Warmth in the Darkness
by veVeon
Summary: No one understands what I’m feeling right now. It’s like someone had attached a heavy weight to my heart and let it sink. When I'm alone, I always feel the need of something, but I don't know what it is." Vivienne feels depressed until she meets someone.
1. Living on Adrenaline

**This is a new story, and I'm very excited about it. It might sound boring at first, but give it a chance okay?? And just so you readers know, I AM NOT IN DEPRESSION. It's an idea of what it would be like if I were. Anyhoo, if you don't like dark emo-ish shtuff, don't read on. I'm serious. I even scared myself when I proofread it. Anyhoo, I don't own anything except for my characters.**

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 1: Living on adrenaline. Enter Vivienne, Penelope, Kristina, Darrion, Rachelle, Mike, Naomi, and Eliza.

Vivienne P.O.V

Dear Diary,

No one understands what I'm feeling right now. It's like someone had attached a heavy weight to my heart and let it sink. I'm not depressed. I'm not emo. Am I? All I feel is as if everyone is happily going on about their lives, leaving me behind, alone in the dark. My nickname… _laughy pants_. Not so laughy anymore. Unless I'm hyper or in a loss of sleep. But that's when I laugh at everything. Almost feverishly. But no one notices. I put on a very convincing act.

XOXO,

Vivienne

For the thousandth time in her life, she noticed how ironic her name was. Vivienne means alive… when she felt like she was dead. One less human in Canada wouldn't matter at all, she thought grimly. But she didn't have the guts to go suicide. After all, what would her family, her friends do? There would always be a dark spot in them, their self-hatred of not noticing how she was feeling. Then there's the fact that she doesn't like to feel pain. She checked the time on her laptop. 1:54 am. Well. There's school tomorrow. Another act. She'll probably be so tired that she'll be high all day long. Except when she's swimming. Now _that _would be tiring. She turned off the laptop and dived under the covers of her bed. She was already in her pyjamas, just in case her father wakes up and shouts at her to go to sleep. Snuggling with one of her stuffed animals – a life sized Pokémon, she drifted off to sleep without even doing one of her usual rituals – wishing on the star that was always twinkling outside her window.

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"Vivienne! Hurry up! You're almost late for school!" Her mom was shouting at her from the bottom of the stairs.

Vivienne groaned but turned on the radio which rested at the foot of her bed. The radio immediately shrieked with music and she flopped back on the bed, squinting out the window. It was a very nice day, the kind with a bright sun and a beautiful baby blue sky. The kind she used to love. But now she was a night person. Someone who loves the moon, the stars and the dark rolling clouds. Vivienne dragged herself off her bed and dressed, while singing to the music. Time to get in character, she thought dryly. Only her clothes showed her dark side, with the all-black and the punkish belt. She put on fingerless gloves and tried to tame her black hair properly. After she washed her face, she looked in the mirror, seeing an Asian girl with emo-styled hair that just reached over her shoulders. Her brown ringed with dark grey eyes were dull, and face flushed from the scrubbing. She shrugged to the mirror and flounced out, grabbing her backpack. She could feel the adrenaline rush coming from her lack of sleep, but she knew it only triggered when her friends at school made some joke.

"Vivienne! Look at the clock! You only have a few minutes until you have to go!" Her mom yelled from across the house.

She sighed internally and the next minutes were a blur of cooking, eating, running, yelling at her father, who was driving, and singing to the songs on the radio. Then the line up at school. Many cars were honking loudly, anxious to get their children to school on time. Finally, her car went to the kiss n' ride lane, and she said many 'byes' before heading to the front doors. Which were technically off-limits. But who gives a shit. She smirked at her unusual bad-girl attitude.

"Vivienne! Wait up!" Someone called behind her. She allowed herself a grimace before turning to look behind her. Time for the show. Penelope with her black hair, glasses and sweet face was running up to her, arms opened for a giant bear hug. Vivienne grinned. A genuine grin. Penelope was the sweetest of her group of friends and the one that made her laugh extra hard… at nothing at all.

She was running towards Vivienne, arms outstretched, when she slapped a girl on the face unintentionally. Penelope's eyes widened and she cried, "Ohhmygod. I'm sorry. Are you okay??" Vivienne was cracking up with laughter, and she could tell Penelope was trying not to laugh too. But when she glanced at Vivienne, she yelled, "Shut up!" and started to snigger uncontrollably.

The girl who got slapped turned around; her short black hair ruffled slightly by the wind, and tried to glare through her glasses at Penelope. But she ended up smiling and held a hand to her head. "Am I okay? You just slapped me! I'm gonna hit you till you die!" She proved it to Penelope by hitting her on the head, hard, and ran into the school. But not before saying a brief, "Hi Vivienne".

"You are _so _dead," Penelope yelled at her disappearing figure, and ran up to Vivienne to give her a big hug. "Sorry about that." When she didn't respond, Penelope took a careful look at her face. "What's wrong? Turn that frown upside down!" She said that line, as an attempt to cheer her up. Sort of a private joke. Vivienne sighed internally and showed Penelope all her teeth, twisting it in a sort of grimace-smile.

Penelope settled for that, and informed her, "Kristina's going to pay."

Vivienne just nodded and entered the school. Everyone was busy, the students were talking about their _amazing_ weekend and the teachers were hustling the kids into classrooms. Ugh. She on one hand, was glad to be back at school. It was her last year here, and she wanted to leave as many memories here as possible. Next year was the monster Grade 9. High school. She opened her locker with a sigh, next to Kristina's, and took out her stuff for English and French.

"Vivienne!!" A tall boy with an afro was walking to her, huge smile on his face.

"Darrion!!" she faked enthusiasm and gave him a big hug. Both of them laughed at nothing and Vivienne shrieked, "Oh my god!! You got braces!!" The happy mood was infecting her.

"Yup." And he showed her his teeth. Vivienne gave him a hug again. "We can be brace buddies!"

"Eww." Kristina had turned around and was watching them.

"You're eww," Vivienne replied almost absently. This was one of their everyday rituals.

"Your life is eww."

"Your mother's eww."

"Your father's eww."

"Go die in a black hole and never come back."

Kristina gave her a look. "Eww."

They both cracked up and turned back to their lockers. Vivienne stared at the back of the locker, lost in thought. This was one of the times when she felt together with the rest of the world; not sinking but treading water easily.

"Hey Vivienne," a tall girl with long brown hair said, opening her locker.

"Rachelle! Did you read some of my… stuff?" Vivienne asked, smiling. Rachelle was the thoughtful, sensitive one and a very good writer.

"Yeah. I sent you an email," she told her. Rachelle's words implied a silent 'I can't believe you didn't know, since you spend all your time on the computer.'

Over the weekend, she had started to write fanfiction to express her feelings. Sort of like therapy. And it sort of worked. Because when she was alone, she always felt the _need_ of something. But she never knew what it was. After all, she had the perfect life: loving family and very close friends that could make her laugh so hard she could pee in her pants. But lately, it seemed as if a misty veil had dropped down silently. The world had become a flurry of bright colours and movement, but she was left in a state of dull grey and slow motion.

All of a sudden, a shriek startled her out of her thoughts and she automatically took out her binders, stuffing them into a bag. When she turned around, Penelope and Kristina were in a game of poking, regardless of the amount of people staring at them. When Penelope sneaked a peek at Vivienne, she had to fake a blank smile at her before slamming her locker shut. This is going to be a pretty fricken long day.

Walking down the hallway beside Kristina, Penelope and Rachelle, she rubbed her eyes with both eyes closed. Her bangs were getting too long. She should get it cut… and that was when she bumped into something warm and soft-ish. Ohh jeez. A person. "I'm so…" started to say, opening her eyes. Ugh. _Him._ The guy had almond shaped brown eyes and brownish black hair. Mike. "… sorry," she finished. He stared for a second, and then shouted, "Hey! Watch where you're going!"

She walked away unemotionally, with her friends yelling insults at him. The stupid loser. He should get a life, instead of trying to impress people. When she walked into the English classroom, a girl with brown eyes, glasses, and – a new haircut?! – walked up to her. "Vivienne! Did you read my 2 new chapters?!"

"Eliza." She said it as a greeting. "Yeah I did! It was so good! And you got a new haircut! It makes you look… older. Sophisticated." Eliza was also a great writer, and they sometimes traded ideas for their stories.

"Yerp. Thanks." She beamed.

"Eliza!! You got a new haircut!!" A girl with short brown hair and Asian brown eyes stretched her arms out for a hug. "Ahh! It looks good!"

"That's what I just said," Vivienne muttered.

"Thanks Naomi," Eliza chirped.

"Vivienne! I need your white out!" Naomi cried, attacking her pencil case.

Vivienne just stared.

"Your essays are due today, and I will collect them at the end of the class," Mr. Gyld, her English teacher, announced. "Open your notebooks and copy this down." He grabbed a piece of chalk and started to write on the board.

Vivienne obediently followed his instructions and in between discussions, she quietly stared out the window, thinking about her new mixed-up emotions when she was with her friends.

**Yea, I know. Boring chapter, huh? But it's gonna get more interesting, I promise! And this was only a brainstorm. So tell me if I should even continue. Review?**

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	2. Fuck my Life

**WATCH OUT! THERE'S SWEARING! A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN I'VE EVER DONE. ANYHOO.**

**My life officially sucks. I'm sorry about the lateness, but my fricken computer just like screwed up and I didn't know where my chapter went -_- So I had to retype it. And then my keyboard wouldn't work. And it was really good before. I'm sorry if it doesn't live up to your expectations guys. **

**I don't own anything except for my crappy computer. Then again, I own my characters.**

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 2: Fuck my Life, Enter Melissa, Will and Adriel

Vivienne's P.O.V

Vivienne sighed as she changed into her red and black swimsuit. The school day had been long, and almost all of her adrenaline was used up, not leaving much energy for swimming. She sighed again and walked on the pool deck, black flip flops clacking on the stone tiles. Looking around expressionlessly, she spotted her friends talking and laughing in clumps on the other side of the pool. Oh man. It was time for the _real_ show. In her swim team, she was technically slow for her age, so she had to swim with people who were younger than her. Immature, shrieking, young children. And to fit in, _she_ had to be an immature, shrieking, young child. Which used up a whole lot of energy, leaving nothing for the fricken swim practice.

"Vivienne!!" someone screamed, causing some of her other friends to scream too. Vivienne resisted the urge to cover up her ears and roll her eyes. Did she _really_ have to deal with them today? She was so fricken tired, and she couldn't deal with these screeching twits.

When she approached them, a girl with long black hair and a tall body stood up. "Vivienne!" she called. Melissa, only a few months younger than her, was the most mature one, sometimes even more mature than Vivienne.

Vivienne grimaced, hoping Melissa would mistake it for a smile. But it seemed like it was her unlucky day, because she immediately walked towards her and chided, "Stop being an Asian emo."

Vivienne dumped her bag on the ground and turned around, arms crossed. "I'm not emo."

Melissa looked like she was about to argue, so Vivienne hurriedly added, "Actually, I Googled it and it said, quote, 'An emo is clearly defined by their music and their sense of hurting themselves'. And I don't listen to screamo music or cut myself daily." Vivienne knelt down and rummaged through her bag, searching for her cap and goggles.

"You still dress like an emo," Melissa retorted.

"I am _not. Emo._" Vivienne's voice turned dark and she felt Melissa falter. What? Was she really that scary? But she really hated people thinking she was depressed. Seriously. Nothing's wrong with her. Except for the amount of stress homework has given her… and the irrational _want_ of something. She immediately felt the emotion bloom inside her passionately, making her heart ache so much she bit her lip, trying not to cry out. Ridiculous. I don't need _anything_, she reminded herself fiercely. But the emotion just responded by making her chest hurt more.

"Anyways, I have something to tell you!" Melissa whispered in her ear excitedly.

"What?" Vivienne snapped. Another emotion, much more passionate than the one before slapped her chest, making her feel dizzy. She couldn't even describe it. It was so intense, it made her heart pound and she felt sweat beading up on her forehead. Where were those fricken goggles?! She almost ripped her bag, looking for it. The emotion shot tendrils wrapping around her brain, sending a frenzy that made her want to swim a thousand miles, or run up a steep hill. Just _away_ from the feeling. Weird.

"Vivienne! Are you even listening to me?!" Melissa was shaking her so hard that she lost balance and fell on her back.

"Oww." When she raised a hand to lightly punch Melissa, she found her fingers curled around the goggles. Oh. Okay. There they were. But the emotions didn't get any weaker. Melissa helped her up and she turned to face her squarely.

"Vivienne, I was _saying_ that there's a new guy on our team," Melissa said, eyes bright.

"What." It wasn't even a question. All of a sudden, Vivienne's palm felt a prick and when she looked down at it, she saw her hand still curled up in a fist tightly. She studied the fist as if it were someone else's. The hand was clenched so securely that her nails were drawing blood, causing the pain. What the hell… her hand wasn't opening, even though she willed it to. Let _go._ Great, now one of her limbs weren't responding. Maybe I'll get it amputated, she though dimly. Using the other hand, she pried off her fingers, spreading them out. The goggles clattered to floor as she stared at her palm. There was a crumpled piece of lined paper in there. When she opened it and smoothed it out, she recognized it immediately. It was the lined piece of paper she had doodled on during math class. No mistake. There was that portrait of Penelope, the elephant Naomi always draws, and the block letters of her name… it was all there. She didn't remember putting it in her swimming bag. Hell, why would she even _put_ it there? All of a sudden, both emotions – the feeling of wanting, and the running away feeling – blasted inside her in a silent explosion. Her heart ached and she ran as fast as she can, anywhere, anyplace. She didn't think, didn't pause, and just acted, to get away from the _pain_. Her vision was filled with red and pink.

"Vivienne!!!" She heard a shriek, startling her out of the pain. But just when she got a glimpse of Melissa's face in shock, the pain came back again, in waves of deep red. She sucked in a breath involuntarily and ran once again. She felt pain in her legs… wait was that from sprinting or the emotions? She couldn't tell the difference. Her vision cleared abruptly, and she found herself running at top speed on the slippery deck. Oh god. She was going to fall. Her legs weren't working either, when she tried to make them slow down, and finally, she just gave up trying. Here we go, she thought. One of her flip flops slid across the wet floor while her arms flailed uselessly in the air. She lost her balance and closed her eyes – This is going to hurt, she thought vaguely – when a strong, cool hand gripped her arm, not allowing her to fall. Time stopped when she turned face – to – face with a rather striking Asian boy about her age, his pale, clean chiselled features expressionless, his gold, glinting eyes unreadable, and his short black-brown hair barely ruffled. When his hand touched her arm, she gasped, feeling a fresh wave of adrenaline through her veins accompanied by a white hot blazeof wanting and running away. Great, so the adrenaline comes _now_, she thought dizzily, and the world turned black.

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Will's P.O.V

Will slid on his Lacoste sunglasses as he walked to the building. The sun was shining brightly today, with no clouds to hide it from view. Which made his eyes hurt like hell. He briskly strode into the cool, shady building, trying not to look like he was hurrying. After all, it would do no good for his 'image' for girls to fall for him. Which made it easier to feed. He sighed in relief when the florescent lights hit his eyes. They were a soft, warm gentle glow in contrast to the Goddess damn sun. He kept his face blank and expressionless and went to the guys' change room. He had just moved from Tacoma where the sun hardly shined, and now he was _here_. Canada. "It's easier to hunt here, so deal with it," Will's brother Adriel had said. That much was true of course. Tacoma had been so… _together_ and quiet, that every time there was a murder, it made the headlines. Unlike here, where everyone was too busy with their lives to notice a few missing vermin. Will and Adriel already got a few sips from some of them, and it was so much _better_. The blood back in Tacoma was faintly sour as well as sweet, but the blood here was _all_ sweet. No trace of bitterness, sourness or dryness. Mmm. Just thinking about blood made his fangs emerge, pearly white and delicately curved into maximum sharpness.

Trying to push them back in, he changed into his swimsuit and kept on his sunglasses. His fangs were still poking his lower lip gently, and that meant his eyes were an unusual metallically gold. When he prepared to walk onto the pool deck, his ears picked up the conversations about the 'new guy'. Wondering what they could possibly be saying about him, without even seeing him before, he paused at the doorway curiously.

"I heard that he's _hot_. I mean hotter than _Robert Pattinson_," a girl was squealing. Will's face was still a blank wall, but inside, his lip curled in disgust. Robert Pattinson was ugly. In a very non-gay way. He couldn't understand the workings of the female mind. Well you don't need to, he thought to himself. At least not a _vermin_'s mind. He continued to listen.

"Vivienne, I was _saying_ there's a new guy on the team!" A chirpy girl's voice was shrieking.

Vivienne. That name sounds… delicious. Maybe she could be his puppet. Aside from that girl he just got a few minutes ago. She's probably still dazed right now, he thought amusedly.

"What." The other girl's voice, Vivienne's, sounded calm and dark. Woah. She sounded completely different than what he'd thought. All the same, vermin's vermin. He should start playing the hot guy now. Will stepped onto the pool deck, in full view. Everyone stopped talking and stared at him. But one movement caught his eye. It was an Asian girl with an emo haircut sprinting across the pool deck. Oh Goddess. She isn't running for him, is she? How _cute_, he thought sarcastically. But when she came closer, he noticed her brown eyes weren't staring at anything, but looked feverish and scared. Like she was in her own world. Maybe she's blind, he thought. What a waste of a pretty face.

"Vivienne!" The same chirpy voice was now full of fear, and she was yelling at the girl. Ah, so _she_ was the girl with the delicious name. 'Vivienne's' eyes cleared for a moment; they look confused. But they glazed over again, and she kept on running. When she was right beside him, her foot skidded on the slippery floor. Her arms flailed and her eyes closed, probably bracing for the pain. Time for the perfect guy to step in, Will thought dryly. He swiftly grabbed one of her arms, locking it in an iron grip, to prevent her from falling.

He froze as two things happened at the same time when he did this: The girl had turned to face him, and her eyes weren't glazed over anymore. Instead, she had looked terrified. Of _him_? Whatever. Those eyes are very weird, he'd noticed absently. The brown wasn't as dark as other Asians he knew and it was ringed by a deep grey.

The second thing had basically turned his world upside down. A warm tingle had started up his arm, moving to his other arm, down his back, through his whole body and wrapped around his heart. The whole process had been short but it gave him shudders of delight and made him want more. _No_, he'd thought angrily. The thing you're holding is _vermin_.

He struggled to keep his face expressionless, eyes cold and tried to ignore the fact that his whole body was trembling. The girl called Vivienne probably felt the same thing, but the moment the tingles were out of his body, she fainted. Right in his arms. He narrowed his eyes. Damn her. Everyone crowded around them, checking to see if she's okay and thanking him. Oh Goddess, he had to get out of here. His control was slipping, with all the tasty human blood he could smell, and echoes of the tingles. Will chucked the girl's body to someone and he nearly ran into the change room, not caring about his image. His fucking life was _over_. He quickly changed and ran all the way home, determined to avoid calling Adriel for a ride.

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Vivienne awoke to images thrown at her. Clips of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Blood. _Danger,_ a voice whispered in her ear, echoing around her as if she were in a cave. _Danger,_ it said again. Fangs. Blood. Pale skin. _Beware. _Cherry-red blood. The new Asian guy on the swim team with cold gold eyes. Kristina. Darrion. The feeling of wanting. _Be careful. _The feeling of running away. The new guy on the swim team again. An Asian guy she's never seen before, with black hair and gold highlights, and defensive dark brown eyes. _Watch out or be sorry…_ all of a sudden, her vision bloomed with a watery pink. At the same time, she felt a sting on her right cheek, and then her left. Right again, then left. The slaps were continuous, and always brought a fresh wave of the pink to her vision. When the pain silenced to a numb throb, the ordeal was finally over and her cheeks felt raw. A huge splash of blood-red washed upon her as she reached out for help, but before it came in contact with anything, a new wave of dark black overpowered the red. Her hand dropped down limply and she easily fell into darkness, losing consciousness.

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Will pressed his lips together, to keep from yelling at random things. A faint red blurred the edges of his vision, his anger trying to leap out of the cage he kept it in. This was such a shitty idea, he yelled in his head. Moving to Canada of all places. Why not the Arctic? The sun shined less, cute little penguins lived there, and there was no… _Vivienne_. His heart ached at the thought of her. He _wanted_ her. To take care of her, to protect her, to laugh with her, to talk to her… but he also despised her. Who the fuck was she, a stupid little vermin – he winced at the thought of calling her "vermin" – to end his life? A small, insignificant thing like her. He wanted to block out what had happened before. Pretend he never went swimming. But his heart wouldn't follow his thoughts. It was currently telling him to feel worried about her. Is she okay? Where is she? What happened to her before, when she was running? Will groaned as he burst through the front door of his house. Get these stupid questions outta my head, he yelled at himself.

_What the fuck…?_ Will heard his brother, Adriel, complain mentally.

_Sorry._ Will sent that as a growl and hurried upstairs, taking two steps at a time. He threw his swimming bag inside his room and went to the balcony. The cool air brought rationality to his head, and the anger slowly melted away, replaced by a horror, a shame, and a desperate feeling. What is he going to do? He fell in love with a _human_._ A_ _human._ _Vermin. Food_. And he was supposed to _protect_ the piece of _food_?! Like a human protecting a sandwich?! He sank down to a nearby chair. The wind tickled his cheek. He scratched it absently, thinking. He broke one of the Night World laws already… falling in love with a human. What was he gonna do? Break a law, and die. He didn't want to die. For a stupid human that incidentally is rather mouth watering. That he would see every other day. How was he going to resist her? And what will his friends say? Will moaned and turned to the wall beside him. He stared at it, trying to find the answer in the white blankness. When there wasn't, he leaned forward and started banging his head against the wall.

Damn. Girl. Who. Seduced. Him. With. Just. A. Look, he thought unhappily to the rhythm of each bang. It made a loud thump, louder and louder each time. Fuck. My. Shitty. Life.

"What are you doing?" Will removed his healing head from the bloody wall and looked at the doorway. Adriel was staring at him with his always-dull eyes, twirling an unlit cigarette in his hands. Adriel was obsessed with cigarettes ever since he smoked one when he was ten. In fact, he had said before how cigarettes were better than blood. Better than _blood_. That was just plainly crazy.

"Banging my head against a wall," Will said bleakly, stating the obvious.

"Well shut the fuck up." Adriel left.

Will turned back to the wall, wondering if he should start banging again.

"And mom and dad aren't coming home tonight. We're getting dinner ourselves." Adriel was back in the door way, and he was licking his lips in anticipation.

"Again?" Will asked darkly. Their parents were never home, either in meetings or business trips.

"Yeah." Adriel left for good this time.

**Yay! Tell me waddayyaa thiiiiink. Me likey. Well at least the part I didn't have to retype. -.-''**


	3. My Brain's Gone Dead

**I know, I know, it's a boring chapter. But hey, I need to develop the friends. Try. To. Have a very. Fun. Time. =)**

**I don't own the Night World series.**

**Oh, and "Rachelle" is pronounced as "Rachel". I just like the spelling better. =)**

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 3: My Brain's Gone Dead. Enter mysterious guy

Vivienne's P.O.V

"Outta the way! Outta the way! Hey you, step back. To the wall. To the wall! _THE WALL!!!_" Through the fog that was clouding up Vivienne's brain; she could easily recognize Eliza's shouting over the murmurs in the room.

Taking a deep breath, she kept her eyes closed, and said as loud as she can, "Shut the hell up, Eliza. You're bothering me." It sounded like a hoarse whisper, considering this was the first time she spoke, since… since… what had happened again? Whatever, she thought, pushing down the confusion and panic.

She heard everyone stop talking at once, and felt them lean over her. Which was seriously awkward. She opened one eye and tried to use that to glare at everyone, warning that she will kill whoever that still stares at her. But the amount of people there snapped both her eyes open and forced her to let out a blood-curling shriek. "Holy _shit_!" Then she immediately yanked the covers over her head to protect her from staring zombies.

"All right people! Move back! Away from the innocent child! You! Get your masculine organ _away_ from the girl. Away! To the corner! _The corner!!_" She heard Eliza order everyone around like a drill sergeant. "Move, move, move! Don't _touch_ her with your disease-infected hand! Your fingers!! Don't make me force you to!" Vivienne couldn't help but start laughing under there. Sometimes, Eliza's over-protectiveness was really annoying, but at times like this, it was hilarious. She felt someone gently pull the covers away from her face, so she immediately covered up her face with both hands. The lights were too bright.

"Get the light awaaaaay from me!!!" Vivienne yelled unhappily.

She waited for it to turn dark, but nothing happened. Something felt very wrong here… she stiffened, nerves on hyper-alert. She slowly uncovered her face, and warily opened her eyes. Which made her shriek again. She was staring at Penelope's eyeballs, small and dark brown, and it scared her like hell. Everyone in the room was laughing, even Eliza. Vivienne gritted her teeth and fake-laughed along with them, but in her head, she growled, Damn those people. Won't they go away? Ungrateful bitch, a little voice said in her mind. True enough.

"We're here to visit you Vivienne!" Penelope gave her a big hug. "Your parents called us… so we're here. Are you going to school tomorrow?"

Vivienne nodded, trying to make her smile look bright and happy. After all, they came here especially to see her, and it would be rude to not show at least a little enthusiasm. Kristina pushed Penelope off the bed, earning a look from Penelope, and she passed a bouquet of flowers to Vivienne. A bouquet of lilies. How did they know…? She smelled it happily. Mmm.

"We bought flowers for you," Kristina stated the obvious. "And I hope you get better…" she sounded like she was reciting something.

"Thanks guys." Vivienne hugged her, and then opened up the card. Inside, it read, "Vivienne, hope you get better! We need you. Love, Kristina, Penelope, Naomi, Rachelle, Darrion and Eliza." It had lots of doodles of their usual jokes. Vivienne felt touched, and actually had some tears in her eyes.

"Thanks again." She squeezed Kristina for a long time and shut her eyes, trying to make the tears go away. Stupid emotions, she thought. "And thanks Eliza!" She hugged the pushy girl around the hips, sniffling softly.

Eliza pulled back. "Aww, is my little pudgy-wudgey crying?" She pouted mockingly.

"No!" Vivienne crossed her arms defiantly, cheeks burning.

"Vivienne!" Darrion burst through the door, smile on his face once again.

"What do you want from me?" Vivienne narrowed her eyes mockingly at him.

"Your life," Darrion joked in a deep voice. He was trying to make it sound menacing, but it didn't really work. Vivienne grinned.

"Are you okay?" He asked, as he gave her a big hug.

"Yeah, I'm good." Vivienne leaned back to the wall behind her.

"Get away from the child!!" Eliza quickly grabbed a thick book, but paperback, from – the stack of books?! – On the shelf. Vivienne caught a glimpse of the title, 'The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Ninth Grade Slays'. "You're putting the moves on her, _aren't_ you?!" She accused. "Well it won't work, as long as I'm here! Now shoo! Go!! Go away! To the corner!!! The corner!!!" Eliza shrieked, slapping him everywhere with the book. She probably brought it for me to read, instead of using it as a weapon, Vivienne thought amusedly.

"Oww!! Eliza!!! Stop!!! Owww!!!" Darrion yelled, trying to protect himself from the attacking maniac.

Everyone was laughing at them. Vivienne was laughing so hard, her stomach hurt. In fact, the hall rang with the noise, and she was sort of nervous the nurse would come and force them to leave. Oh well. Screw the nurse. Finally, Eliza was done with the ordeal and she turned around with the book held at her chest triumphantly.

"Sorry about that," she said breathlessly while placing the book gently back.

"Eliza," Darrion boomed, taking a giant step forward. "You wanna die?"

"Shut _up_ Darrion. And move." Naomi swatted him away, earning a look from him. "No one wants you here."

Darrion opened his mouth to probably retort, but Naomi quickly said, "Vivienne!! Here." She handed Vivienne a card.

"It's so pretty!!!" Vivienne hugged her hard.

"And this is for you too!" Rachelle stepped in front of Naomi, and gave her a tight hug as well. "Of course Penelope did the drawings and stuff, you can tell by the look of them. But _I did the writing!_" she sang.

"Thanks Rachelle. I love it!" Vivienne's smile was wavering. She could tell. "Well, I can't give you guys anything… there's the crappy hospital food here… and Tim Hortons. And I'm sorry Darrion, but there are no "wing tongs" here." She added. Darrion was so funny, because he confused "wing tongs" with wontons. And they weren't wontons either; they were dumplings. But the fact was that he loves those things, and he always threw a fit if he didn't get one.

"Aww…" Darrion pouted. His cell phone beeped. "I gotta go," he said apologetically. "My dad's here."

Vivienne couldn't help but sigh. Even though it totally contradicted what she had thought before. "Alrighty. See you tomorrow." The others said their byes and soon, Naomi had to leave too. One by one, her classmates either "hoped she gets better" or gave her a present. Life is sweet, Vivienne sang in her mind. But the down side was that there were so many smiling people that it made her sick. And that she had to smile so much that her cheeks hurt.

A few minutes later, only Rachelle, Eliza, Penelope and Kristina were left.

"So what happened?" Penelope asked, perching on the edge of the bed. Vivienne scratched her forehead absently.

"What do you mean?"

"You know. How did you end up… here?" Kristina didn't seem to want to say "hospital".

Her fingers paused before dropping to her lap. Fogginess crept up in her brain. The panic and confusion washed over her, as she struggled to remember. "I… I don't remember." Even _she_ heard her own voice small and bewildered.

"Did you hit your head?" Rachelle asked. "I heard that it's normal to have a temporary memory loss if you did."

"Oh my god." Penelope's eyes were wide.

"Yeah, I read about it in a book before." Eliza looked thoughtful, but her hands were giving away her emotions – they were playing with her sweater zipper harshly, zipping it up and down frantically.

Vivienne just shrugged. It would come back later. Whatever. She could live without those moments. But her gut wasn't telling her the same. That those moments _did_ matter to her, very much.

"What… what the… it's temporary right?" Kristina's voice was full of shock and horror.

"I guess so…" Rachelle exchanged a glance with Eliza.

"You'll get your memory back." Eliza's voice sounded determined. There wasn't even a negative tinge and her hands stopped fidgeting.

"Well, what was your last memory?" Penelope asked, voice hushed.

Vivienne screwed up her face, trying to think. "I went to swimming, and then the coach gave us a really hard practice. After practice, I took a shower, changed, then waited for my dad to pick me up. It was cold, actually. I remember zipping up my coat all the way up." Images came flooding back to her. "I finally went in the car and complained that my dad was so late. Then the next thing I remember was having a really creepy but cool dream about vampires. And I had it like seven times, and it was the same each time. When I woke up, I saw you guys here," Vivienne crossed her arms, staring at the white sheets. What she said made perfect sense… but it sounded odd. She remembered cold gold eyes and… pain? Then there was this weird tingly feeling that made her shiver with pleasure every time she thought of it. Like now.

"That's weird," a bright voice said at the doorway.

Vivienne groaned internally. It was Melissa. She really didn't want to deal with her swimming friends right now.

"How is it weird?" Penelope asked.

"Who are you?" Eliza asked, point-blank. She casually pulled a book out from the stack. Probably to defend me with, Vivienne giggled mentally.

"I'm Melissa, from her swim team, and it's weird because I remembered something totally different." She came in and leaned against the wall opposite of Vivienne.

"By the way, here you go." She handed a square present to Penelope, who handed it to Rachelle, who shook it a little before passing it to Kristina, who tossed it to Vivienne.

"Thanks. So how is it weird?" Vivienne asked, brow furrowed.

"I remember you acting all emo when you went to swimming practice. Then I was telling you about a new guy –" Vivienne's body gave her a strange tremor that echoed around her body in a deep thrum, and it made her clench her jaw to keep from giving any hint about what was happening inside her. "– and then you went all weird when you were looking for your goggles and stuff. All of a sudden, you like, jumped up and started running at top speed around the pool. And when I called your name, you stopped for about a millisecond, but then continued running, and you were heading for this really wet area. Then you slipped, and thank god the new guy caught your arm, or else you would've hit your head. Then you fainted in his arms." Her voice turned jealous. "And he held you there for like, almost a minute, before throwing you at Dmitri and then running off. And thanks to you – no offence intended – practice was cancelled, so we didn't even have to swim. I never saw him again, like not even at the later practices. Anyways, I heard you went to the hospital, so I went, but you were sort of in a coma or something, 'cause you were sleeping for about _two days_." Her voice turned worried. "It was really scary… and I hope you're okay." Her delicate voice trembled as she went forward to give a very dazed Vivienne a hug.

Vivienne vaguely noticed that her school friends kept quiet, even though they must've had a thousand questions in their mind. And she appreciated that very much. When Melissa went back to the wall, Eliza's quiet voice was strained. "The first day I came to see you, everyone was outside the room. They weren't allowed to go in. I heard it was because you had this seizure thing, when they had to slap you a lot to make you relax. And your mom said you had that three to four times a day." So _that_ explains the creepy dreams, when she felt the stings on her cheeks every time.

But the coldness outside the pool felt so real… and the hard practice… she even felt pain in her muscles right now. Or was that from the sprinting and the seizures she had? Her head was so confused. There was also a sickening pit in her stomach, because she recognized the truth of Melissa's words, and the new set of images proved it true. But how did the memory she just had, the one with the hard practice, end up in her brain? She couldn't have possibly unconsciously made it up.

Finally, Kristina stirred. "Well, anyway, we gotta go. I've got Sunday school. Penelope and Rachelle are with me." Kristina hugged Vivienne again and stood up. "We'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Yeaa. You think my mom would let me skip school?" Vivienne replied sarcastically, pushing her feelings into a corner.

Rachelle frowned for a second, pretending to think. "Nah, not a chance." She shook her head, grinning.

"So Asian!!!" Penelope snickered.

Vivienne hugged Penelope and Rachelle one last time, before saying bye.

"I have to go too," Melissa confessed. "I didn't know you were awake, so I was just planning on dropping by. My mom's outside waiting for me."

"Yea, me too. And I was just dropping the books off," Eliza said with a meaningful look at the stack of books.

Vivienne's mouth quirked up to a smile unintentionally. "Thanks guys. You're the best. I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked, as she hugged both of them tightly.

"Yea. See you."

"Bye Vivienne."

Vivienne's smile disappeared the moment they were out of sight. Everyone just left at the same time, leaving her alone to deal with the thoughts and memories clouding up her mind.

Alone, once again.

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Vivienne kept her face expressionless as she strode to her locker, backpack swinging behind her back. It has been at least a day since her friends had visited her, and all her thinking had only lead to more questions and mysteries. Her head hurt just to think of it. But seriously, what was happening to her? Maybe something's wrong with her brain. A clogged up vein? A cancer cell? But then again, she remembered everything perfectly fine before and after "the incident". And there was the problem that she couldn't get high to act all happy. The doctor had told her parents that she was just suffering from a loss of sleep, and the seizures were just a side effect. What a whole lot of crap, she thought disgustedly again. The moment she had free time, she Googled side effects to loss of sleep, and seizures weren't even in them. Well sure, there was death. But isn't that what she wanted? With that thought, she smiled, and knew that everyone would be creeped out by the way her eyes would light up feverishly. Anyhoo, she didn't have that option anymore, because her parents made sure she was asleep before they were. And since Vivienne didn't want her parents to suffer, she had no choice but to do as they say. So now she could only hope her fake smiles and chattery voices would pass the test. This time she grimaced.

All the other students swept by her, oblivious to what she was feeling. Can't they see what was happening inside her? Oh right. She was supposed to be acting. But… that was the point. She wasn't. They didn't even notice her. That was so self-centered, she scolded herself mentally. But still… if they didn't notice her un-acting, then would they notice if she were gone for an hour? A day? A month?

… Forever?

Probably not. They would just continue on with their lives, ignorant, like how a drug addict would ignore the side effects of drugs.

Finding herself drifting to English for first period, she dropped the depressing subject and made a mental note of what had happened earlier on in class. It was something about book talks – See? I remember everything else perfectly fine, she thought to herself. – So the book talks were due like next month, which means –

"Watch out!"

Vivienne looked up sharply, causing her to slam right into the double doors guarding the hallway.

"Oww!" She yelled at the doors, rubbing her forehead. "What's your problem?!" She narrowed her eyes at one of the doors unhappily before kicking it open and sweeping past it coolly. Damn the doors. How embarrassing. In front of the whole school. The main hallway. Everyone watching. Damn the fricken doors.

"Are you alright?"

Vivienne spun around, eyes narrowed at the ground, still in a very pissed off mood.

"What do you want from me," she said through her teeth. She still didn't look up.

"I saw what happened… umm… before and I wanted to see if you were okay."

It was a guy voice and he sounded as if he were smiling. Huh, too bad Eliza wasn't here, she thought. She would've beaten the crap outta him. Vivienne took a deep breath; ready to fire a thousand insults at him the moment she opens her mouth. But she took a step back unconsciously at the sight of the boy. He was Asian, by the looks of him. His eyes were a soft dark brown, which she knew would look defensive at any moment, and his black hair was highlighted with gold streaks.

It was the mysterious Asian guy from her creepy dreams.

**LOL cliffhanger. Just in case you guys don't know what the hell the last line was talking about, in Chapter 2, Vivienne dreamed of ****TWO**** guys. One was the guy who saved her from slipping, and one was someone she'd never met before. Your welcome. xD**

**REVIEW PLEEEAAAASE? I give you a cookie. =)**


	4. Freaking Out

**Too much homework! Sorry for not updating sooner! T_T**

**I don't own the Night World Series. Sucks for me. **

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 4: Freaking Out, Enter Keith and Alex

Vivienne's P.O.V

_He was Asian, by the looks of him. His eyes were a soft dark brown, which she knew would look defensive at any moment, and his black hair was highlighted with gold streaks._

_It was the mysterious Asian guy from her creepy dreams._

What… no… this can't be happening. No… no… "No…" Vivienne shook her head frantically. A guy from her dreams show up? A _stranger_? This is absolutely… ridiculous. She took another step back. It must've been a coincidence. It _has_ to be. It's too weird –

"What are you talking about?"

Vivienne was too in denial to notice that she had been talking out loud. She looked at him dazedly and shook at her head at him. "No." She took a step back again, still looking at him. "It can't be… impossible… no… NO!" She yelled the last word at him, not caring that everyone was staring at them. She was too freaked out. Vivienne sprinted to the English classroom, ignoring the pain in her muscles from the days before. She didn't look back.

Once in the safety zone, she collapsed into her chair, forehead touching the cool desk, hair forming a dark curtain. She bit her lip and took deep breaths through her nose, trying to calm down. It was just a coincidence, an accident, nothing to care about, she chanted in her head. She refused to believe it meant something else. If it did.

"Hey, _Vivienne_!"

Vivienne groaned. She needs a few minutes to herself to sort out this alone. It was just a coincidence, and it –

"Vivienne." Someone poked her on the arm.

"Go away."

The poking became harder.

"What do you want from me?!" She snapped, whipping her head up to glare at the person. But her gaze faltered as she recognized who it was. The guy towering over her had messy brown hair, eyes a shade lighter than that and a muscled body. It was Keith Hallows, the hottest guy in her school, who was incidentally her old nemesis because of his asshole-ly nature. Vivienne sighed internally. Unfortunately, hate is a very passionate emotion, and it can easily cross the line that turns it to love. So that was where she was now. Keith Hallows, the asshole, as her secret crush.

"I heard you went to the hospital."

Was he asking if I'm okay? Vivienne thought. That could almost make up for what creepy things had happened before. Almost. She blinked and put her head on her hand.

"What's your point?"

He grinned suddenly. "I was wondering… did you go there to get a breast transplant? Not that I'm looking there." But his eyes said otherwise.

Vivienne's jaw fell open. Well screw that idea. He was trying to be cocky. "Go rot in hell!" Then she stood up and shoved him. Hard. Keith actually took a few surprised steps back before bumping into someone behind him.

"What's your problem?!" It was Eliza, and she was batting him with another paperback book.

"Screw off!" He muttered, trying to keep his cool.

Eliza glared and hit him a few more times before letting him go. Vivienne watched Keith walk coolly back to his group of friends and join the conversation. She studied his handsome features for a few seconds more before returning to her moping. It was just an accident, nothing else, damn Keith –

"What happened?" Kristina, Penelope and Rachelle were looking at her. Oh crap. She said it out loud _again_, didn't she?

_Play dumb_, a voice in her mind advised her. She followed the instructions. "What do you mean?"

Kristina rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend. We heard you. What was an accident? And what about Keith?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eliza look up sharply from her book. Oh great. She was in the center of attention. "Keith came up and then he said that he thought I got a breast transplant at the hospital. And then he looked." Surprisingly, she didn't even feel a bit embarrassed when she said that.

"He _what?!_" The shriek of four horrified girls had the force of a million bombs exploding, a hundred towers crashing to the ground, and a thousand guns firing at the same time.

"He looked at my… thingymabobbers." Vivienne was actually glad she told them. Now all she had to do was sit back and watch Keith get tortured.

"My innocent child!!!!!" Eliza screeched. "Everyone! Get a weapon!"

Vivienne tried to hide a smirk as her four friends stomped towards Keith's posse with math textbooks, lipstick and purses at the ready. They were so hilariously protective. Dimly, she heard Rachelle warn Keith's friends to step aside and stay that way to avoid getting hurt. Vivienne's shoulders were shaking with kept laughter so far. She watched as Eliza whacked him everywhere with a textbook, Rachelle use her brutal slapping skills against him, Kristina swing her purse at his friends to keep them away, and Penelope draw on him with a tube of cherry-red lipstick.

"Aghh!!! Fuck off! What's your problem?!" Keith was unsuccessfully trying to protect himself from the harassing warriors.

"You _pervert_!" Eliza shrieked.

"How the hell am I a pervert?! I didn't – ow!! Back off! OWW!!"

"You looked at –"

Oh my god. Please don't say my name, pleasenopleasenopleaseno, Vivienne thought frantically. Now _that_ would be embarrassing. In front of the whole class.

"– a girl's boobs!" Rachelle yelled.

_Thank_ you, Vivienne breathed.

Everyone started to gather around the fight scene, excited murmurs and giggles drifting through the room.

"What is going on in here??"

Crap. It was Mr. Gyld. His face was pink-ish and he held the attendance folder as if he was going to rip it to shreds in a moment.

The four girls froze, and Keith took this opportunity to tattletale. "Mr. Gyld! These… _freaks_ are hurting me!"

Mr. Gyld's eyes narrowed. "You four. At my desk." He jerked his chin at the corner and strode there.

"But – but – look at me!" Keith spluttered.

And so the class did. Everyone paused for a second before laughing at him. Even Mr. Gyld had a smirk on his face and his eyes were twinkling. Keith was truly a mess. His brown hair had bits of red in it and his face was smeared with the lipstick all over the place. There was a long, fat trail that ran from his forehead, curved around his nose, to the corner of his mouth.

"Don't they at least deserve detention for about a week?!" He yelled, furious for the embarrassment.

Mr. Gyld immediately turned serious. "Mr. Hallows. Don't yell in my classroom. I think I can be the judge of that." To the girls, he motioned them to go there.

Vivienne immediately felt nervous for them. Mr. Gyld was rather strict, and he might actually give them detention. They didn't really deserve it; they were just trying to avenge her. She rose fluidly and crossed over to the desk.

"Mr. Gyld," she interrupted politely. "It has nothing to do with them."

He stopped talking and the four girls looked at her.

"My friends are very protective, and once I told them that he… _looked_ at me, they wanted to avenge me." She stood there solemnly, feeling a little embarrassed about telling a grown man about this. "Keith was basically raping me with his eyes and I feel that my 'bubble' has been invaded, making me feel very uncomfortable. I believe Keith should be the one who gets detention, instead of my friends, who were just trying to bring justice." She crossed her arms and gazed coolly at the teacher, refusing to crack a smile. She had just made it sound so formal, and it was a very big contrast to her usual type of speech.

Mr. Gyld cleared his throat and his eyes darted around the room. "Vivienne, thank you for telling me your opinion." His tone was formal, too. "I respect your wishes, and so I will do as you say. However, that does not give these girls a permission to attack Keith." He gestured to them, raising an eyebrow. "No matter how funny it was, it was very inappropriate to do so, and I believe you owe an apology to him."

The girls groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Would you like to serve detention after school with him?" Mr. Gyld raised an eyebrow. "I have room for four more."

"Umm… we'll just go apologize." Kristina looked embarrassed. "When?"

"Now, please."

The girls tromped away. At least they didn't have to do detention, and that means it wouldn't reflect on their impression. Vivienne shrugged and then drifted back to her seat. Oh, and if they _did_ have detention, she would get left out again, caught out the net of inside jokes. She thought that selfishly, and regretted it almost immediately. After all, the punishment was caused by their protectiveness, so why was she jealous? She gazed at her friends whispering in each other's ears and giggling quietly. Even if it isn't right, it still hurts to know they'll come back with some joke that she doesn't get. No, I won't be jealous. I won't freak, she chanted in her head. Freaking out… she closed her eyes, remembering what had happened in the hallway. I won't freak, she reminded herself sternly. I won't freak, I won't freak, I won't freak, I won't…

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I won't freak, I won't freak, she thought dully, walking from the cafeteria to her locker. All morning, it was banging repeatedly in her head, and she was getting tired of it. Suddenly, she spotted a tall, dark shape behind her from the corner of her eye. _Again_. She groaned. This person had been following her ever since she had stepped out of the English classroom and everywhere she went. That is, of course, an exception to classes. She whipped around abruptly and scanned the crowd. Nope. No one. She turned back around slowly. Maybe she has problems? Oh whatever. Maybe it was Penelope. Maybe it was Darrion. Maybe it was a teacher. Maybe.

She turned her locker combination, still wary of her surroundings. 23… 25… what was that?! Another dark shape was watching her. She turned around sharply and caught a flash of gold and black before it disappeared. Oh hell. Why not? She locked her lock and tried to inconspicuously chase after the guy. "So now I have a stalker," she muttered to herself. Joy. Vivienne darted around two boys shoving each other and around a girl applying makeup. Do that in the washroom, she thought disgustedly. Almost there, she thought. The stalker's back was just inches away from her fingertips. She sprinted the distance away. There. She was right behind him. You're dead, she thought to herself grimly. Vivienne reached out and yanked him backwards… and almost dropped him when she caught sight of his face. It was the Asian guy she dreamt about. Oh screw that, she thought and viciously shoved him up against a wall, isolated from the crowd of rushing students.

"Oww! What the hell is your problem?!" He shoved Vivienne away and rubbed his head, brown eyes were flashing with annoyance.

Vivienne stumbled against the opposite wall from his shove and glared back defiantly. "Why the hell were you _stalking_ me?!" She yelled back, pushing away the panic and pain. That guy's strong, she thought absent-mindedly.

He crossed his arms and looked away, frowning. Why am I not leaving? She asked herself. Oh, cause you're a fricken romanticist and you want him to be your "soulmate", she answered herself savagely.

"I wasn't stalking you," the guy finally said, turning back to the hallway. He took a few steps hurriedly, trying to blend in.

Vivienne pressed her lips together and dragged him back. "Yeah, right. I saw you. Every. Single. Time." He looked like he was about to protest but ended up smiling sheepishly. That's a very nice smile, she thought.

"Fine. I was." Then his brown eyes turned defensive. Vivienne shivered uncontrollably and looked down. This was the exact way she saw him in her dream, and not even a single hair was out of place. She breathed in through her nose and out her mouth slowly. Calm down, she thought. Her hands clenched the straps of her bag unintentionally. I will not freak, I will not freak, she thought, gritting her teeth. A hand touched her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Vivienne looked up. The guy had a worried expression and his eyes were warm, no longer defensive.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Vivienne forced a smile. "Back to the point. Why. Were. You. Stalking me?" She pushed him away as gentle as she could and crossed her arms.

The guy grimaced. "Well you just ran away from me this morning and I don't even know what I did to you." He scratched his arm thoughtfully. "And by the way, when I saw you bang into the door, I wasn't laughing at you. I swear."

Vivienne sighed. "Whatever."

He sighed too before brightening up. "Soo… I don't know your name yet. I'm Alex."

Vivienne raised her eyebrows at him. Well he can change topics fast. "Riiiight. I'm Vivienne… what class?"

Alex grinned. "The best class ever. Mrs. Johnson's class."

Vivienne smirked. "Hell no! My class is the best and you know it. _Mr. Gyld_'s class." She sang, watching Alex's expression turn jealous. "Told ya. We're the best… aaand I gotta go now." Unfortunately, the bell rang right then, so she had to get to Art. Yes. She smiled at the thought of that period, turning away. Art was _the best_ class because there was unlimited talking and well… she was the top drawer in her class, so far. Not to brag, she added hastily.

"Wait!"

Vivienne turned around. "Yeah?"

Alex shoved his hands in his pockets, soft brown eyes turning lighter in the sun's rays. "Vivienne," he said, testing out the new word. "Umm… I'll see you after school?"

Vivienne nodded and waved goodbye before pushing through the crowd.

**Here you guys are! Don't be mad at me please! Especially a certain someone. *coughElizabethNewforestcough* Review please?? I'm losing confidence in this story. :( **


	5. Oh my god! Are you okay!

**Sorry for the late update! I had lots of homework. But since the workload is less, here you go! It's boring but I have need of this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this… Night World Series things. Aii.**

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 5: Oh my God! Are you okay?!

Nice guy. Actually, stalker-turning-out-to-be-a-nice-guy, Vivienne thought, running her hands over the neon-blue lockers. He _was_ pretty polite, unlike Mike or Keith or any other guy in this school. Darrion was an exception. Oh, and not to mention, pretty cute.

"Kristina would _love_ him," she muttered. She opened her locker and grabbed the things she needed.

"Kristina would love whooo?" Penelope was behind her, giving her a hug.

Oh sweet Jesus. She should really learn to stop talking out loud. Vivienne shrugged. "Just this guy I met."

"Is he hot? I wanna meet him." Kristina brushed a strand of hair away from her face, smiling slightly.

"I DON'T have a boyfriend and Kristina… I think you'll absolutely _love_ him," Vivienne sneered at Kristina. "Plus, I'm not even old enough to have a boyfriend."

Kristina turned pink. "I wanna meet him," she repeated.

Vivienne rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut. How does she know these things? Oh, right, because every single time she talks about a guy, Kristina would "wanna meet him" and know everything _she_ knows about him. God save me, Vivienne thought crossly.

"So how's he liiiike?" Penelope sang.

"I just met him," she protested. Both of them just rolled their eyes. "Fine. His name's Alex, he's in Mrs. Johnson's class, and…" Vivienne looked around warily at the noisy hallway. She motioned for them to come closer. "And this is serious, okay? Don't tell anyone." She waited for both of them to nod and pinky swear. "And you know how I got these seizures at the hospital? Well I was dreaming then, the exact same dream each time, and there were only two people in it: the guy who saved me at the pool, and this stranger I've never met." She paused. "And the stranger… is… _Alex_. I've never even seen him before," she whispered. How can she dream of someone she's never met before, and meet him the next day?! OhgodOhgodOhgodOhgod… She started freaking out, barely hearing her friends' murmurs.

"You're kidding, right? I know you read all those books about vampires and witches and stuff, and you want to be one, but you don't really have to make it up." Kristina looked scared underneath the exasperation.

Vivienne glared as red hot rage swept through her. "Oh my god Kristina. I'm not making anything up! I know you're not a believer," she mocked, adapting Kristina's tone. "But I'm not kidding. If you think I'm shitting you, then fine. Conversation closed." Vivienne shifted so her back was to Kristina, and she was looking at Penelope. "You believe me right?' Her gaze looked pleading.

Penelope looked surprised and giddy. How can she be _giddy_?! It's so freaky! Of course _they_ won't know how it feels like, she thought irritably.

"Woah. I wish I can see the future. Good psychic child." Penelope patted her head.

Vivienne rolled her eyes but grinned. Now that she thought of it… it _did_ seem kind of cool. But still freaky. She started to walk away from her them, thinking they would follow, but heard a moan which made her rush back. A panicked Penelope was supporting Kristina, who looked pale and tired.

"Kristina! Are you okay?! What's wrong?" Vivienne helped make Kristina lean against the lockers instead of Penelope.

Kristina shivered before her eyes closed and she slumped.

Penelope shrieked. "What's wrong with her? Is she dead?!"

Vivienne swiftly pressed her fingers to the base of Kristina's throat. A pulse was still beating. Thank god. She turned to Penelope. "She's still alive. I think she fainted."

"But from _what_?"

Vivienne could only shrug. Kristina was the strongest of all of them, claiming to be the "buffest" of them all. But this says otherwise.

"I think we should drag her to the office or something."

Penelope giggled, even though it was sort of serious right now. "What, you think we're gonna seriously drag her?!" she imitated towing Kristina to the office. "She's too heavy!"

"Fine," Vivienne growled, laughing. "Go get a teacher. I'll like slap her or something."

Penelope widened her eyes and burst out laughing before running away. Vivienne turned back to the unconscious person on the floor, shaking her head, but smiling mildly. Penelope hardly treated anything serious. But Darrion was worse. Kristina, Naomi and Eliza were the most serious. And what was she? Maybe in-between… or more of an un-serious person? You're getting off topic, she reminded herself.

"Kristina! Are you okay?! Waaake up! Waaaaaaake uuuuup!!!" Vivienne started shaking her shoulders. This feels weird, she thought to herself shamefully. She should concentrate on waking her, instead of feeling self-conscious. "Okay, so what to do now? Wait until Penelope comes back, or continue to do the shaking?" She muttered to herself. Oh, so now she was talking to herself. Maybe she'll have split personalities when she grows up and start arguing with herself. Brilliant. "Slapping her? But maybe that's only for seizures… how about dumping a bucket of water on her head? I don't think I should leave her though…"

"Yeah, I don't think it's a good idea either."

Vivienne turned around, eyes flying open. "You could've given me…" her sentence trailed off as she realized it was a smiling Alex twirling a hall pass. "What are you doing here?!"

Alex shook the pass. "I was going to get something from my locker." His voice had a _duh_ tone in it. Vivienne immediately glared at him. "So what's up with _her_?"

Vivienne glanced back at the girl. "Oh, I think she fainted. I can feel a pulse, it's like strong, and she's breathing. But she isn't waking up."

"Woah." Alex looked shocked, but dropped to his knees to inspect Kristina. "I think you're right, she just looks unconscious. Have you ever thought of getting a teacher?" It had a _duh_ tone to it again. What the hell.

"_Yeah_," Vivienne snapped, annoyed. "My friend's getting one. But she's still looking for one, apparently." She put most of the blame and her annoyance on Penelope. Sorry, girl, she thought, smiling briefly.

Alex raised his hands to a surrendering position. "Okay, man. I was just asking."

"Yeah, well you sounded like you were accusing me," Vivienne said, face hot.

"Sorry, then." Alex's mouth quirked up to a smile abruptly. "So you know this girl?"

"Yeah. Why?" Vivienne was still annoyed at him.

"Do you hate her?"

"_Why??_"

"I just thought you might've done this to her." He gestured to the girl, grinning. Vivienne's mouth fell open. "Excuse me?" She said, starting to crack up. He's cute, she thought.

Alex shrugged. "You're strong enough. Believe me; I know how buff you are." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Vivienne nodded, flattered. He was probably remembering when she had shoved him into a wall. That's one of the best compliments she's gotten this year. Both of them grinned at each other. Hmm, maybe he could be part of our "group", she thought absently. Alex seemed nice enough, and to her, his aura seemed sort of like a warm, gentle glow. Like a blazing fire dancing hypnotically on a cold winter night in a cozy wooden house, with steamy hot chocolate in a mug –

Something on the floor groaned. Vivienne's head snapped down, grin disappearing in a flash. Kristina groaned again and opened her eyes slowly. Suddenly, she gasped as the upper half of her body lifted up, as if by some invisible force. But as abrupt as it began, it stopped immediately.

"Oh my god." Vivienne knocked Alex out of the way and grabbed the still girl by the shoulders. "Kristina?!" She felt like she was going to cry. What's wrong with Kristina? She was as still as before. Her tear-filled eyes flew to Alex. "_Go get some __help_." Her feeble voice cracked. His hall pass was nowhere to be found.

"Look man. Just calm down. She's going to be fine." Alex patted her shoulder awkwardly. But his eyes were warm, and burned with sincerity. Well to hell with that! Vivienne shrieked internally. How are his _eyes_ gonna help?! What, shoot lasers out?!

"Get _help_." Vivienne was close to crying. Kristina's wasn't moving yet.

"I have to stay with you! Or else you're gonna freak out, and what help would that be?!" Alex said, almost close to yelling.

"Why?! She needs our help! She needs _your help_." Vivienne turned around, trying to blink her tears away.

There was silence, only filled with Vivienne's fingernails tapping on the floor. I should cut it at home, she mused. Or maybe paint it. But mom probably wouldn't approve. Finally, Alex sighed. "I'll go. But try not to freak out."

Vivienne nodded and started shaking Kristina again. She concentrated on making the warm tears go back inside her eyes, since they wouldn't go away the first time, and listened as his footsteps faded. What the hell is wrong with you?! Vivienne's shakes were getting harder, and Kristina's head bobbed back and forth. A minute later, double footsteps echoed the hallway. Vivienne looked up, surprised to see Alex and Penelope, instead of a teacher.

"What is this?!"

Penelope bent over, panting. "We looked all over –"

"No teachers –"

"How about –"

"No teachers –"

"Not even –"

"No teachers –"

"Have you –"

"_No teachers!_"

Vivienne opened her mouth to make a snappy remark, but suddenly remembered it was recess. All the teachers were at lunch break, or outside. Damn you Kristina, she thought irritably. You _had_ to faint or something at _this_ time?

"Have you looked –?"

"Yeah." Alex ran a hand through his hair.

Vivienne's tapping fingernails interrupted the silence again. Well, there were also the heavy pants from Penelope and the quiet footsteps from Alex's pacing.

"We'll go get someone outside," Penelope said.

"I guess so… Pen –" Vivienne was interrupted by a hoarse groan. She looked down at a weary Kristina blinking at the lights. Well that solves the problem.

"Kristina!" Penelope cried.

Kristina tried to get up, but failed. Alex bent down and quickly supported her, as Penelope smiled uncertainly.

"What?" Kristina asked. Well, at least she didn't notice Alex, Vivienne thought. Wait, but that might make her recover faster. She smirked to herself, ignoring the panicked look on Alex's face. Kristina was leaning rather heavily on him, and he really didn't look like the type to hug strangers. Maybe stalk them. But not touch.

"Kristina, we were talking about this guy I met and then you said you wanted to see him," Vivienne said slyly. "We got into a fight and then you fainted. You woke up and tried to stand up, and right now, you're leaning against said new guy called Alex."

Kristina blinked a couple of times before warily turning her head around to look at the person behind her. She grabbed a lock from one of the lockers to support herself and screamed, "Oh my god!!" Alex's eyes widened more and he leaned his head back as much as he could. Vivienne turned away, trying not to laugh. His expression said, "Get this crazy girl off of me!"

When she turned back, Kristina had her head buried in her hands, and Alex was searching frantically for his hall pass. Penelope was just grinning madly. Vivienne watched as Kristina pointed out the hall pass for him, embarrassed, and Alex grabbing it, almost running away, without even a goodbye.

"Oh my _god_," Kristina whispered, lifting her head from her hands. "I just made a horrible first impression, didn't I?"

Vivienne smirked. No harm in telling the truth. "You scared the shit out of him," she informed the red-faced girl happily.

"Oh no." Kristina sank to the floor, making a face.

Vivienne shrugged, and did a cartwheel in the middle of the hallway, since no one was watching. Maybe Penelope and Kristina, but who cares? 'Alex, Alex, Alex' was the only thought in her head. Even though he ran off at the end, he actually stayed and helped. In a way. But normally, someone like Mike wouldn't; he would just back away, and let her deal with it. A nice guy… maybe he could be someone like Darrion. A guy friend, with a brotherly love. Not a bad thought… except Kristina might try to make him "notice" her. Not like she didn't already, Vivienne thought, amused.

"What happened Kristina?" Penelope played with the zipper from her favourite black Hollister sweater. She was watching Kristina closely, as if waiting for her to drop down dead any second.

Kristina rummaged through her brown purse, stalling. Finally, she sat up straighter. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet they had to go closer. "Since like, three days ago, I've been, uhh… fainting? I don't know what to call it. Losing consciousness, fainting, whatever." She picked at the strap of her purse, refusing to look up. "And it wasn't like at a certain time or anything, and the amounts of times were different every time. I didn't even bang my head or anything."

Vivienne nodded abstractedly. So that was why she was sometimes late for the afternoon attendance, and the reason why she sometimes "went somewhere", but didn't tell her where. "Does anyone know?"

Kristina's hand went still immediately. "Don't tell anyone!!! It's fine! I'm fine! Just give it time," she said in a much calmer way.

"Give _what_ time?"

"These fainting thingies, I don't know. And tell uhh… Alex that too. Just lie to him or something. Give him an excuse. Don't tell him everything," Kristina pleaded. "Trust me on this. I'm fine."

Vivienne and Penelope exchanged a glance. "Uhh… _why_?" Vivienne squinted at her.

Kristina looked blank. "Why… because I don't want to." She said that slowly, as if she were figuring out what word to say next.

Penelope and Vivienne looked at each other again. Should they trust her? And why doesn't she want people to know about it? There is a _lot_ going on right now, Vivienne thought. Penelope took a deep breath and let it out slowly, saying one word that made Kristina's expression change dramatically.

"Fine."

**Wait for the next chapter. I promise you, it shall be brilliant! Review please? If I don't get at least… 4 reviews then I'll be sad. :( See how sad it already is? I said FOUR. Most people say twenty or something. God. Have a nice day.**


	6. Someone's Going Today

**Here's the deal: I was forced to put this up by a certain someone, so it is very sucky. Don't hate me! :3**

**I don't own Night World. Dayymm. ;)**

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 6: Someone's Going Today, Enter Will Rong

Vivienne's P.O.V

"Okay, so he just texted me saying that he's coming back from Algonquin and he'll be at school tomorrow," Eliza whispered excitedly to Vivienne as the teacher at the front of the classroom droned on and on about their behaviour. Her class, or Mr. Gyld's class, were sitting in the music classroom, instruments propped up against chairs, music stands, or being laid on laps. They were in trouble because they were talking too much, playing at the wrong times, and not listening to the instructions… again. They'd probably win the trophy for being the "naughtiest class ever". Mr. Zwaine, with only a few remaining brown hairs on his head, the music teacher, was famous for his non-stop talking and his not-so-good hearing for whispers amongst the students. So that's why she and Eliza were having a whispered conversation about Eliza's second boyfriend, Tom Ivailo. The first guy was dumped by Eliza because she caught him trying to smoke, having zero tolerance for that. Tom, on the other hand, was apparently the "perfect guy" because he was smarter than her and wore emo clothing, as well as having a lip ring and ear ring. Tom's best quality seems to be the fact that he carried around two bags: one backpack and one special over-the-shoulder black bag, just for Eliza's food supply. She, for some reason, had cravings for food all day, ranging from Swiss chocolate to fried chicken to a simple medium-sized croissant, toasted just so that the outside was crunchy and the inside was still soft. Anyhoo, for the special long weekend, he and his family with two older brothers went to Algonquin for a hike or something.

"Ohmygod. And yesterday, he called me and he said that he brought me a _preeeseeent_!" The last word was sung a bit too loud, and Z-dawg, as some kids had nicknamed him, looked over with narrowed eyes. When Vivienne and Eliza looked away, smirking to themselves, "Z-dawg"'s dull voice filled the silence.

Eliza and Vivienne turned back, smiling as one. "Ohhhmygosh. So he's going to bring me a present. A surprise present. I'm so excited!"

Vivienne grinned. She and Tom had a good-friends relationship, sort of brotherly, even though she thought he was kinda hot. "Oh, okay. So no present for me??" She fake-pouted.

"Not your boyfriend, so don't even think about getting anything," Eliza proclaimed.

Vivienne rolled her eyes. "Well, too bad. I'm –" Mr. Zwaine's words filtered through her whisper. "– new classmate today, so I hope everyone will behave properly." She turned to Eliza, seeing her shock mirrored with her own. A new guy?

"I'm…"

Was it Alex? But Alex was in Mrs. Johnson's class… so who's the – oh wait. It might be a girl.

"I'm…"

Silly me, Vivienne thought dryly.

"You've said 'I'm' five times already," Eliza told her.

"Oh."

Before Vivienne could say something more brilliant than that, the door opened, and a Chinese-looking guy walked through. Vivienne cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. She swore she had seen him before. Yes, with the pale, clean chiselled features, the spiky emo-styled black-brown hair, and the sharp, glinting eyes that seemed to be stuck between the colour gold and brown. He was wearing black baggy pants and a simple black collared shirt, which contrasted with his skin, with a Roots black backpack over his shoulder. All in all, he was pretty damn sexy. And she knew Kristina would probably be checking him out, the expressionless, cold look, making him more wanted. She looked over, seeing the girl's lips shimmering with freshly applied lip gloss. How smart am I? She thought to herself sarcastically.

But… _where_ did she see him before? She like, knew his face, but where… Oh! _Oh._ Her mouth dropped open. She remembered that there were two guys in her dream, one was Alex, and one was… him. Great. This creepy-ness has just kicked up another notch. The sexy boy strode to Mr. Zwaine without looking at the crowd of students goggling at him. He spoke quietly to the teacher; she doubted Mr. Zwaine even heard him, but understanding lit the teacher's features, and he motioned for the new guy to –

Wait, hold on. A memory started to drip through a crack in her brain. If she remembered correctly, he was the guy who saved her from slipping on the pool deck, when those emotions sort of punched her over and over again. The guy who grabbed her just as she was about to fall. The guy who felt, possibly _made_, those tingles that spread through her body in a pleasant shiver. When she was lost in those feelings, she felt a thought pop up in her mind. I wonder if it would happen again if I touch him, she thought, surprised by the weird craving that had began so abruptly.

Shaking the feeling away, she leaned over to Naomi, who was doodling one of her elephants in her notebook. That led her to think about the note, the piece of paper she had found in her swim bag. Hmm… Wonder how it got there…? Oh, whatever.

"Is he hotter than one of your K-pop guys?" She whispered slyly to the girl.

Naomi was in a stage of K-pop obsession, so obsessed that she could name all the famous beat boxers in less than four seconds. The girl's hand paused and she shrugged, smiling a little. She began to doodle again as Vivienne shifted to a more comfortable position. After all, the "sexy guy" was still standing there. She smirked to herself. Wouldn't it be fun if he liked her more than Kristina? Aww, poor Kristina would be forced to think that she sucked, compared to Vivienne.

"Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" Mr. Zwaine asked Sexy New Guy.

Sexy New Guy's eyes flickered dully to Z-dawg's face. "I'd rather not." His voice was such a quiet murmur that she could hardly hear it. It sounded cold, but smooth, like an ice cube sliding on a slippery surface coated with a puddle of cool water, preventing it from – anyhoo. It was different from Alex's, who sounded like molten caramel dripping from a spoon onto ice cream, sort of like Lil Wayne's, but without that nasty nasal sound in it. It was different from Keith's, which… roughly sounded like water running onto crunchy fall leaves, softly crackling.

Mr. Zwaine frowned reprovingly, but turned to the class without scolding at Sexy New Guy. Damn. Maybe he thinks Sexy New Guy's sexy too. Then he blinked a few times. "8G, I would like you to meet your new classmate, Will Rong," Mr. Zwaine stated.

A scattered chorus of "hi's" sounded, and taking chance of the noise, she asked Eliza, "Do you think Keith, Mike and their 'crowd' is going to make fun of him?

Eliza shrugged. "Maybe. But it's not our problem, right?"

"I guess so."

Mr. Zwaine mumbled to Sexy New Guy – Will –, clearly gesturing for him to take a seat.

"Eliza… we're probably going to hear Kristina talking about how hot he is during lunch," Vivienne sighed.

Eliza rolled her eyes and groaned. "Oh my god. Save me."

"Will" stuffed his hands in his pockets and lithely manoeuvred himself through the path of stands, chairs and instruments. I bet he'll do well in gym, Vivienne thought absently. She noticed his gold eyes looked brooding yet bored, not even glancing when girls offered up their seats for him, nor when guys did the same. He just headed to the back of the classroom, in the isolated corner, and stared out the window. Is he depressed? Vivienne thought, surprised. He seemed so sure of himself at the pool that time, and when he went in the classroom. Maybe they can talk… but he didn't seem like the type to talk about their problems. Plus, she was never going to tell anyone about hers. Never.

* * *

Will's P.O.V

"Just go straight down the hall, turn to the left, go all the way down _that_ hall, and then turn to a pair of double doors. You should technically be able to hear the instruments anyway," the 36 – year old secretary instructed Will warmly. He was barely listening, just picking out the images he got from her head. Goddess, he really wanted to go back to Tacoma and rip throats out with his friends. He immediately thought to the bottle in his backpack, filled with blood from his human. Adriel and him had just gone out yesterday to prepare for school, and had told their humans to stay still while draining more blood than usual. You can't use that, he thought to himself dully. It's for lunch.

"Your homeroom teacher is Mr. Gyld, and I hope you enjoy the year here." The secretary held out a hand for him to shake. Will stiffly raised his pale, cold one and left without even saying "thanks" or "bye". No use in that, she didn't smell good. He followed the instructions and tried not to glare at the cheery pictures framing the walls. But seriously, he could feel the blood lust coming on.

Will reached to the classroom door, easily hearing the old man's announcements through the thick wooden door. He took off his sunglasses to get used to the weird glow of the lights. He could hear the announcement about the new classmate. Time to go in, he thought. You still have a chance, you know, a voice reminded him. The night before, he had thought about running away, but that would've been too childish. He took a deep breath and opened the class door.

As the concentrated smell of human blood hit him, he tried to make himself think rationally. What about Adriel? What about your life? You'll have a whole lot of cleaning up to do if you attack the food. He picked out useful information from the teacher's head – Mr. Zwaine – and stared at a poster advertising clarinet reeds while the teacher droned on.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" The teacher looked hopeful.

Hopeful your face. Hell no. "I'd rather not," he murmured. He positioned himself so that only Mr. Zwaine can see his eyes, knowing how they'll change inhumanely. He stared deep into the fading blue eyes and put the thought into the teacher's head. _You will introduce me to the class and then leave me alone._ Just for safety measures. When the teacher blinked and did as he said, Will zoned out and flicked his eyes around the room, looking for a spot where he could be alone, away from the tempting blood. Once he was allowed to move to his picked spot, he barely noticed the stupid humans that tried to offer their seats. Ridiculous, he thought, amused. A positive, AB positive, B negative... He named off the blood types when he drifted by them. Then he went by the last row. The sweet scent of O positive blood filled his mind in a reddish haze, and he refrained from grinning. He had found his new human. The other girl can go tonight, he thought, pleasure sending tingles through his body.

When he caught sight of the girl with the yummy blood, he almost tripped over a trombone lying on the floor. What was that stupid instrument doing here?! He thought crossly. Who would even _play_ that anyways? But the real question was… What was that girl doing here?! Her name was… Vivienne. Flashes of her appeared in her mind. Vivienne at the pool, running. Vivienne slipping. The sound of her voice. The feeling of her skin when it came in contact with his. The tingles that had spread through his body, making him want more. This soulmate principal is overdoing things here, he thought irritably. He hadn't gone to swim practice for over a week, and he meets her here now?

Fuck my life, he thought again.

* * *

Vivienne's P.O.V

"Oh my god. He's hot, girl. You know, I love the way he dresses. Like elegant-ish. It's like another way I love how guys dress. Second is like jeans and a T-shirt. But I think I like elegant more. What do you think?" Kristina gushed quietly to Vivienne. "He's pretty cute. And his name – Will – it's so cool. I mean, he could be like the Asian Will Turner, you know? And oh my god. He's staring at you right now." Kristina poked Vivienne lightly on the arm.

"Mmm," Vivienne murmured in response.

Seriously, she didn't feel like talking about this. Ever since the end of music to the beginning of lunch to now, she had this dark sense of foreboding in her. Like something was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"He's staring at you again," Kristina whispered. "What's so interesting about you?"

Vivienne rolled her eyes. "You suck. Anyways, what's your point?" She didn't bother to lower her voice.

"What's what?" Rachelle interjected. Her sweet brown eyes turned to look at her sandwich hungrily.

"Nothing," Kristina answered and began to stuff her face with noodles. Fatty, Vivienne thought, amused.

"She keeps on saying that… uhh… Will is staring at me." Vivienne ran her fingers through her hair. It sounded weird saying Sexy New Guy's name, because it sounded like she had known him for years already, which she hadn't.

"Wow. He must've taken a liking towards you," Rachelle noted brightly.

Eliza suddenly stood up with a pinched expression on her face.

"Eliza, you look like you've just been slapped by Mike and is now planning on throwing him in a cage of lions, then taking the remaining pieces to burn them, and then burying the ashes deep underground, and then blowing the ground up," Vivienne said.

"Ewww," Darrion yelled. God, he didn't have to be so dramatic all the time.

"Darrion, that wasn't so funny, you know," Penelope said awkwardly, saying what everyone was thinking.

"No, I mean Kristina has a banana right? And then she put it just like… _there_ and it looked so disgusting!" Darrion yelled again.

Everyone leaned over to stare at Kristina, who was paying no attention to everyone, just her book. She was indeed holding a banana, which was enough to make them laugh, but the thing that made them burst into laughter was _where_ it was placed – in a casual "between the legs" area. Not purposely, of course.

Everyone tried unsuccessfully to keep the food in their mouth from being spat out, and then started laughing so loud, the whole room was stunned and they all turned to look at them. Kristina was startled out of her book.

"You… you… banana!!!!!" Vivienne managed to get out between her laughs. Her stomach hurt.

"Since when did you turn into a guy?" Penelope asked, giggling uncontrollably.

"Woah Kristina. I didn't know you were _that_ way," Darrion laughed.

"Oh god," Eliza said, pinched expression forgotten.

Once the laughter died down, Eliza regained her pinched expression and grabbed a nearby book. She shuffled purposely to the window ledge, where Will was staring out at again, and sipping a reddish drink. Was that cranberry juice? Ick. Eliza rose the book, smacked him three times, and before he could do anything, she shuffled back to the table.

Will's expression was rather indifferent, only a little startled, but his eyes were half-flashing with anger. How much would it take for him to actually show an emotion? Vivienne wondered. He turned back to the window and started drinking his red drink again. She, too, turned back to her food. But suddenly, a thought popped up in her head.

_Someone is going today._

Vivienne dropped her spoon in surprise.

_What the hell??!!!_

**So, yea. Blame the horrible writing on ummm someone by the name of Elizabeth Newforest. Just saying. And the extra long chapter's for not updating sooner. Review pleaaaaaaase? It makes me very happy.**


	7. These Are the Weirdest Days of My Life

**Blahblahblah I don't own the Night World Series. So well. I've working. Report cards were in and – don't shun me cause I sound like an over-achiever – I got an 86% average. Which was bad cause it was the same as this girl in my class and grrrrrrr and it was lower than this other girl in my class which is also grrrrrrr so ANYWAYS. I have no idea what I just said. But here's the chapter! xD**

Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 7: These Are the Weirdest Days of my Life

Will's P.O.V

Will shoved his hands in his black jeans pocket comfortably as he followed the sweet scent of O positive to another classroom. He slid his sunglasses on. Hunger. His gums throbbed, fangs trying to emerge. He picked up his pace, ignoring the stares and greetings. The classroom was big, with a giant desk and science equipment on counters framing the walls. Nine groups of black wooden desks formed clumps in front of the chalk board. He spotted the perfect spot to have lunch – a corner where he can overlook the whole classroom and out the window.

Blood.

In a flash, he jumped on the counter, took out the bottle with red liquid inside and stuck it inside his mouth. Mmm. A sweet taste exploded inside his mouth, and he instantly sucked the bottle for more. Once his hunger had somewhat dimmed, he stared out the window, wondering what his friends at Tacoma was doing… and the gang back there. Suddenly, he sensed a human approaching him. _Again_.

Will turned around and a pee-coloured math textbook filled his vision.

_ Slap._

The girl – Eliza, it seems, according to her mind – raised the book again and let it drop.

_Slap._

You don't know how dangerous your actions are, human, he thought coldly. _Control yourself._ He closed his eyes, and once they were opened again, only those showed his annoyance. After all, being smacked on the head with a textbook isn't terribly interesting for him. Eliza started screeching about some other human, and he could only stand there dully. With a final slap, she shuffled away – maybe "hobbled" is the right word, he thought dryly – and made her way back to her friends. Will blinked once and took a swig of the blood, staring out the window with a mildly bemused expression on his face.

Canadian humans are weird. How _delightful_, he thought mockingly.

* * *

"Hey. Umm… you're new here, right?"

Another human. Will turned around, and as the scent of O positive blood filled his head, he blinked, trying not to leap on the girl. He nodded curtly while studying her face. Heart shaped face. Dark brown almond-shaped eyes framed by non-Asian long eyelashes. Black hair. Full pink lips that were stretched to a timid crooked smile. He noticed that she looked pretty fragile with her shortness, despite her muscles, probably built from swimming. So he had to protect her, in order to get the good stuff inside of her. How annoying.

"I'm Vivienne," the girl was saying. She took out a piece of lined paper and started writing ideas for the French group project.

"Will," he said coldly.

He sensed Vivienne pause and her eyes on him. Look away, and get back to work, he thought irritably. He optioned for using mind control, but it only worked when he was staring into the person's eyes, and he didn't want to look into the girl's right now. He was too proud.

"You don't have to be so mean, you know."

Her voice was low and quiet but filled with hurt and a tinge of loathing… which made his heart constrict in _her_ hurt. Damn_._

Still refusing to look at her, which would've made it much easier; he fixed his gaze on the opposite wall. "I'm not mean. Go back to your work." Good. Cold. Detached.

He felt the silver flame of her anger. "I'm not your _slave_," she hissed.

"I know. But you're the productive one. So do what you do best and _work_." His own annoyance was starting to build up, and he had to actually keep concentrating to remain emotionless.

"And what would happen if I _don't work_?"

He shrugged. "Then we'll fail."

She was seething, he could tell. Almost out of control. Not my problem, though, he thought.

"Go rot in _hell_," she finally spat, pushing herself away from the table and standing up.

"Been there, done that."

O Positive stormed away – but not before growling under her breath, much to his surprise – to her friends that were working, out in the hallway.

Idiot, he thought. But he'd still have to protect her… if he were to get her blood. It smelled untainted, without the ugliness of beer and drugs. The only reason why he wanted to protect her was to keep it clean.

At least, that's what he wanted to think.

* * *

"Vivienne! Let me help carry your books," Will heard a guy say.

_Not him again_, Will thought irritably. The guy – Keith apparently – had a past. He had searched his brain the moment he had talked to O Positive, and it had been ugly. Five girlfriends in a week. His record was seven a week.

Asshole.

And now he was flirting with _his_ food, _his_ property, and it bugged him somewhat. It awakened different emotions in him... Horror. Disgust. Anger. Fear. Jealously, though he didn't admit it. How good it would feel if those eyes were looking at him like that? But what made fear and disgust dominant was that she was actually blushing. O Positive was looking at him with her brown eyes interestedly without any guards like she usually would, and she had an open face. She looked sort of innocent, like one of those girls who haven't seen anything bad, and Keith was a demon, looking for an opening to devour her.

Surprise, surprise. He sounded like he was describing himself. Demon? Check. Devouring her? Double check. So maybe _he_ was the biggest demon of all. He grimaced, a sick feeling appearing in his stomach.

"I forgot something in my locker. I'm going to get it," the small demon said.

Will's eyes shone with a fierce glow. He dropped his backpack beside his chair and tailed after Keith. If he had to make his move, now was the time.

Keith turned left ahead. Will followed silently. The only sound was Keith's shoes shuffling on the cement floor. He started to slow down as he reached his locker, whistling to himself. Will ran at his top speed – which is basically a blur to a human's eyes – and silently stood behind Keith, hands in pockets. And he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

What a dumb human, he thought. The guy still didn't notice him. Keith was disgusting _and_ dumb. What does O Positive even see in him? Will thought, rolling his eyes.

Finally, Keith turned around from his locker and spotted Will. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his hands rose up in a surrendering position.

"Shit man! You could've given me some warning."

When Will just smiled, he advanced on Will threateningly, raising his fist.

"Say sorry."

Smile.

"Say sorry, you ass."

Smile.

"_Say _–"

Will slammed him against the locker, smile still in place.

"Dude! Let go of me!"

"Let's get it straight. You don't bother Vivienne, and I won't bother you," he said blandly.

Keith grinned. "So have a crush on her, don't you?" He sang, just like a 3 year old.

He tightened his grip on Keith's shirt. Keith whimpered. "Just stay away from Vivienne and we'll be fine." Each word was cold and precise, like independent icicles.

"Chill man, I was just playing around. Can you let –?"

Before Keith was even finished, Will dropped him and was out some nearby doors. His rage and frustration was almost enough to push him off the edge. How could he say that he liked Vivienne?! His fist collided with a wall. It was ridiculous! She's _food_! He knew the other Night People would think it was a good thing. Hell no. They're food and food only, he thought firmly.

But he knew deep down that he mostly feared Keith telling Vivienne he liked her. Understatement. He lovedher. She was, quite literally, his life.

He'd heard of previous Night People during the "Apocalypse" finding their soulmates. But since the Apocalypse was over, almost for a decade, wasn't the Soulmate Principle supposed to back down or something? He won't tell Adriel and his parents… even his friends. He'll have to keep it a secret.

And he was positive that he will _never_ talk with Aradia.

* * *

Vivienne's P.O.V

So it's been interesting these days, she thought dizzily. First I faint and go the hospital, then I meet "the guy of my dreams", Alex, and then I meet "the second guy of my dreams", Will. And now insulting, dog-face Keith is holding my books and talking to be like we were best friends since we were born. Which is kind of awkward. She tried not to sigh as some rude Grade 3 shoved past her… children these days.

She remembered when she and Will had their fight. Hell, he called her a slave, been an ass, and made her feel stupid and embarrassed. Annoying. She clenched her teeth, eager to just punch him in the face. Well the "guy of her dreams" is totally off target. "The guy of hell" fits more. Weird how ironic that would turn out to be.

She opened her locker, and peered around, looking for a piece of paper she thought she had stuffed inside…

_Slam._

Vivienne jumped in surprise and found Keith leaning against her locker door, grinning impishly. She glared at him wordlessly and gingerly pulled the locker door back, forming a wall between her and the idiot.

"Hey, Viv." Keith opened the door again.

"What do you want from me?" Her cheeks burned.

Acting as if she didn't feel all warm and sweaty was going to be a problem, let alone acting cool.

"So I have this party tomorrow at my house, and you're going to come."

She almost dropped her art bag on her foot. "Huh?"

"I have a party at my house tomorrow and you're coming. It's 6:30 at night. Here's my address," he handed a frozen Vivienne a slip of paper. "See you there."

He stalked off, grinning the whole way, while Vivienne just stared blankly at the place where he had just been.

Uhh… what exactly just happened? Why was she holding his address? … whatever, she'll just think about it later. She stuffed the piece of paper in her backpack and yelled at no one in particular, "What's for homework?!"

"3 quatrains about yourself and if you need to, a toga design for the show!" Someone shouted back.

Vivienne packed her bag accordingly and stood up with a heavy backpack. God. Then there was also the Arts Unionville application, the double self-portraits, and what kind of toga should she make for the girl with the December monologue? And the 3-D project…

"Guess what?!" Eliza was beside Vivienne holding her Nokia n95, sliding it up and down in excitement.

"What?"

"Tom told me yesterday that he was gonna call me today sometime around now!" Eliza's hands shot up and her eyes and mouth looked as big as a watermelon.

Vivienne's eyes lit up and she yelled along with Eliza.

Then both of them stared down, occasionally giggling, at the phone while everyone else evacuated the building. About 5 minutes later, the phone chirped and Eliza shrieked while pressing the talk button.

"Tom!!!" Her eyes lit up as she happily chattered with the phone.

Vivienne suddenly dropped her bag, a plan forming in her head. She quickly gathered Kristina, Penelope, Rachelle and Naomi, shushing when they tried to complain. She explained her plan, and nodded in satisfaction when they agreed immediately.

"On 1, kay?" She murmured, sharing a grin with everyone.

They nodded, so she counted down. Someone's going to be in for a surprise.

"3… 2… 1!"

Rachelle and Penelope grabbed Eliza's arms with a loud, "wee!!" while Kristina snatched the phone, and put it on speaker. Naomi just stood there, looking at the scene blankly. Vivienne rushed to Kristina giggling like a mental person and heard Tom asking, "What's going on?!" multiple times.

"Hey Tom," she said to the phone, trying not to laugh.

"Hey…" The phone buzzed to the sound of his uncertain voice.

Vivienne couldn't help it. She started laughing really hard, almost howling like a feral animal. Penelope, Rachelle and Kristina joined in, yelling that she was crazy in between laughs. Eliza was too busy shrieking about giving her phone back, and Naomi was still staring at everyone.

"_You're_ crazy!" Vivienne shouted back.

"According to the sound of an evil mastermind just figuring out how to destroy the world, I think the person who abducted Eliza is Vivienne and Penelope. If they are there, then Kristina, Naomi and Rachelle would probably be helping them. Right?" Tom said from the phone. He sounded like he was smiling.

"You sound really nerdy, Tom," Kristina smiled back at the phone, fixing her hair even though Tom couldn't see her. She thought he was hot, of course, and always tried to impress him, or "tease" him. That always made Eliza pissed, and everyone else disgusted, so she hardly did it anymore, just "gazing up at his hot face and swooning".

"I know. Is there a problem with that?"

Kristina motioned for Vivienne to take the phone in panic. Vivienne smirked, and pretended to think while the silence lasted longer and longer.

"Hello?"

Kristina scowled and shoved the phone in her face, forcing Vivienne to take it. _Fine_, she mouthed to Kristina.

"Hello?"

"Uhh Tom?"

"Is Kristina hiding from me again?" Tom was definitely grinning.

"Obviously. Anyhoo, listen up, cause you're going to buy me a present!" Vivienne announced happily.

"Uhh… why?"

"Cause you owe me one," she said, making up a random excuse.

"And me!" Penelope and Rachelle yelled from across the hall.

"Me too!" Kristina said.

"Yay! Buy me like one of those bobble-head dolls from there, okay?" Naomi stuck her head above the phone, waiting happily.

"What the hell?!"

"If you don't you'll get shunned by all of us on your day back. And we'll tie up Eliza so you wouldn't get to see her."

"Fuck! Eliza can fight all of you losers. So you guys won't get anything. Ha," Tom said calmly. Suddenly, they heard a crash in the phone, but no one said anything, neither did Tom.

"You suck," Kristina finally said.

"Give the phone back to Eliza, or else you guys won't get _anything_," Tom replied.

"So you'll get me the bobble-head?!" Naomi cried.

"Give the fucking phone back to Eliza."

Vivienne put a finger to her lips and silently carried the phone to where Eliza was still restrained. Her shoes are off, Vivienne noticed. Probably Rachelle's doing. Eliza had a weak spot – her feet. So that's how they got her to be still. She clapped mentally.

"Tommy!" Eliza yelled, struggling to get to the phone. Her arms and legs waved, and Rachelle immediately poked her foot. Eliza's legs gave a sort of spasm, with a loud shiver-sigh to go with it.

"Hey idiot. So you got yourself abducted by little children, huh?"

"Hey!" Penelope yelled.

"Well you know what; these are not common little children. They are devils in disguise, okay? So don't talk to me like that!" Eliza spazzed, ignoring Penelope. "Except Vivienne, my little sweet innocent child," she added as an afterthought.

"Right. Well –"

_Crash._

"Haha – you broke something," Eliza teased, doing her best to point her finger at the phone.

They heard a far-off shout and Tom shouting back before he spoke to them again.

"Fuck… Eliza, I'm sorry, but I have to go." His voice was oddly laced with panic, and it was soft but urgent. "My brothers – they're in trouble. I'll call you back okay?"

"Okay, Tom. And… be careful," Eliza said.

Well that was a first. Eliza being worried about Tom.

"Bye Tom," everyone chanted together.

"Bye losers. I'll see you probably next week."

Then he hung up.

Penelope and Rachelle let go of Eliza, and she quickly put on her shoes. Vivienne handed the phone back to her.

"What was that about?" Rachelle asked.

Eliza shrugged. "It's probably nothing. Maybe he has to clean up after his brothers or something."

"Clean up so much that he has to stay for another three days?" Vivienne asked sceptically.

Eliza shrugged again. "Whatever. We have to go – our parents are probably worried."

"I guess so…" Vivienne let go of it now. But for some reason, a dark feeling hung over her. Again. This is getting way too repetitive, she thought crossly.

On the way pass Naomi, who was packing her bag, she caught a glimpse of black hair _in her bag_, which was rather odd, since she just freshly dyed her hair orange.

"What's that?" Vivienne asked, pointing at Naomi's bag.

Naomi looked up, paled for a second, and then quickly zipped up her bag, and stood. "It's something I'm using for a project."

Vivienne shrugged, considering she doesn't know much about Naomi's after-school stuff.

But she couldn't help remembering Naomi's way-too panicked face looking up at her.

**I'm personally proud of myself, since I developed some plot and crap. :D Yay! Reviews would make you a faithful reader who I love. And P.S. this chapter was EXTRA, EXTRA long!! **


	8. Vampires, Werewolves and Singers, oh my!

**So like. Merry belated Christmas and boxing day. And early happy new year. =D I know it's the holidays and all, but I'm hardly getting **_**any**_** reviews. Pleasee?? It makes me happier and confident-er. Rofl. But seriously. Please review?**

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 8: Vampires, Werewolves and Singers, oh my! **

**Enter Calix, Jarius, Cedar, Lamar and Ramane**

Adriel's P.O.V

"Hey, it's Adriel! My man!" A vampire sauntered up to Adriel, with the rest of the gang following.

The leader of the gang, Cedar, grinned and motioned for a blow on the cigarette that was in Adriel's mouth. Adriel gave it to him, and faded into a dark corner of the alley. He pulled up his hood cautiously, eyes flickering for any tell-tale sign of spying.

It was the middle of the night, and he was meeting up with the gang, his friends, to activate the plan. The plan was simple… wait for everyone to meet at the specific alley, go to the Circle Daybreak headquarters, let the guy witch, Lamar, remove any spells that were preventing entry, plant the bomb, then get the hell out of there. Entirely necessary, considering Circle Daybreak wants to reveal themselves to the humans again, so they can dance in a circle while drinking cocktails. The idea was as good to Adriel as being run over by a truck ten times. Unpleasant, leaving a sick feeling in his mouth. Not even cigarettes help.

"Are you ready?" Cedar asked everyone.

They nodded as one.

"Lamar, you've got the stuff?"

The burly witch in a black wife beater reached in his pocket and pulled out the bomb. His white teeth glinted in the dark. "We're good."

Cedar nodded and motioned for one of the guys in black to go first. He sniffed, and took off to the right. Adriel smirked. Werewolf. The stupidest ones of them all. But good as hunting dogs.

The group split into pairs – Adriel was with Cedar – and they all tread warily in the shadows, ducking behind walls whenever a Night Person walked by. Soon, the Circle Daybreak Headquarters rose before them… Aradia's newly built estate. Three apartments in total, circling a courtyard.

It would actually be cool to live there… if I knew it wasn't part of Circle Daybreak, Adriel thought. He dropped his cigarette on the sidewalk, stepping on it with his foot. He slunk farther into his hoodie, wanting some kind of protection from any unspotted prying eyes.

"We have to meet up," Cedar murmured.

Adriel knew everyone would hear perfectly fine, and soon enough, he and Cedar's corner was packed with the gang.

"Listen up. Lamar, Adriel and I are the only ones going in this time," Cedar whispered. His eyes darted around, looking for any hint of danger. "I'm the only one who has the power to reach you all, Lamar's the only one who can install the bomb and Adriel is the fastest and the most alert. No offence. So if I contact the rest of you in any way, come in quietly. It might be a false alarm. But for now, just stay at the corners of the headquarters. Got it?" Cedar's eyes finally met with everyone's and they all grinned, anticipated for what was to come. "But seriously guys, I don't wanna fuck this up. So pay attention to everything."

Adriel snorted, and pulled his hood the farthest it would go to cover his face. He waited for Lamar to remove the spells and traps before sprinting ahead, on guard for any sudden movements.

"Safe," he murmured, and waited for the two to catch up.

Lamar was first, grinning and admiring the estate. But Adriel could tell he was on guard, by the crease between his eyebrows. He's sensing for more traps and spells, too, Adriel realized. Smart. Cedar was very concentrated; his eyes were wide open, unlike the slits he always wears, and teeth clenched.

They walked to the middle apartment, where they knew by spies, was the main headquarters, where the computers, weapons and crap were. I really need a cigarette, Adriel thought dully. Halfway to the door, Lamar suddenly put his arms out.

"Trap," he whispered.

He undid the spell, and motioned for them to walk forward. They finally reached the glass double doors that were proudly standing before them. Adriel warily reached out and pulled it open. The doors let out a soft whisper. Perfect. They all warily made their way into the building, alert for the slightest sound.

Unknown Person's P.O.V

The moon was shining brightly against the dark black night. Stars twinkled down at me as I ran at top speed to my stupid older brothers. The calm cloak of the night was doing nothing to stifle my anger; it was too fierce. How I wished to be with her right now instead of doing this crap. Just the thought of my soulmate made me hesitate – I can always fly a plane back. But there are responsibilities I must fulfill.

I followed my nose to the smell of human flesh and to my brothers' scent.

The scent of pine trees and sweat.

The scent of a werewolf.

I slowed down when I was closer; I could hear them pacing and arguing about what to do with the victims. Damn them. I used my snout to push away low branches and tall grass, snarling under my breath. I don't want to be here. I guess I have to shapeshift back to my human form to be able to talk. I plucked a stray leaf from my spiky black hair and stuck in my lip ring and earring dully before treading carefully to the scene.

Holy shit.

"How the fuck did you guys do that?!"

My two brothers growled together at the sound of my voice. But they relaxed once they saw it was only me.

"Hey. Umm… we got into a little trouble," Calix said, laughing a little.

"I can see that, Calix! But what the fuck did you do to them?!"

"Uh…" Calix looked at my eldest brother, Jarius, helplessly.

Jarius grinned wolfishly, and winked at me. "We were a little hungry, that's all."

The smell of the leftover flesh drifted over, and my stomach growled. Betrayed again. Both of them grinned.

"You wanted some?" Calix asked, with mock sympathy. "We could've saved some for you if you'd told us."

Jarius smirked. "Don't be silly, Calix. Our dear brother has his 'soulmate'." He scoffed. "And, when you get to her, may I ask that you leave some of her for _us_ as well?"

I snarled, my face twisted into a look of anger, jealously and guilt before I lunged at him.

I won't let her get hurt.

* * *

Adriel's P.O.V

Inside, it was every bit as enchanting as it was outside. Though it was dark, he could see marble floors, glass walls and doors, as well as silk drapes.

Marble, glass, silk.

Sunshine, flowers, singing birds.

Perhaps the comparison was downgrading, but at least to others it would sound flattering.

"Adriel! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

He turned, unaffected, to see Cedar and Lamar glaring at him.

"What?"

"Stop wandering off, dumbass!" Lamar hissed. "You're going to get us all caught, and who's fucking fault will that be, huh?" He advanced on Adriel threateningly.

No one like _him_ talks to me like that.

Adriel just smirked and waited for him to come. Before, he had backed up into a drawer. He opened it now and slowly drew out an iron knife. When Lamar was close enough, he whipped out the knife and pressed it against Lamar's throat.

"You wanna go, man? Against this knife?" He breathed.

Lamar laughed. "What's so scary bout that? Just a cut. I'm a man."

Adriel laughed along. "It's made of iron."

Lamar froze, and then struggled against Adriel, only to have the knife wedged deeper into his throat. "Who's got the upper hand? Who's got the fucking upper hand? You move, just one cut would get you for good." He pressed the blade harder, hearing Lamar's breathing go shallow. "So _now_ whose fault would it be?"

"Me," Lamar gasped.

"Good boy," Adriel said. How satisfying.

He let go of him and silently put the knife back into the drawer. When they were walking steadily – Lamar still trembling slightly – Cedar used his power and spoke to him.

_Adriel. That wasn't the right time. You could've gotten us caught, man._

Adriel nodded curtly, still not agreeing.

Cedar rolled his eyes. _At least leave it till later, when we're out of here._

Yes. Adriel smirked.

I will deal with him after the bomb is set.

* * *

Another Unknown Person's P.O.V

I listened to my music backstage as my helpers bustled around everywhere, checking if my mike was clipped on properly, if I needed to add more makeup, or if my hair was done well.

Of course everything was fine.

My lips formed the words I was bound to sing onstage, to practice the already rehearsed lyrics I wrote over two years ago. I remembered when I first heard the notes in my head when I was playing a few random notes on my keyboard. I recalled scribbling down those notes and coming up with a true melody. The melody that I later used in my first song.

My phone vibrated in my pocket – it must be a message. Curious, I opened it, and found familiar wordings.

_hey gurl. i'm da restaurant near ur house. i'll stop by._

_Again?_ She can't go, or else she'll find out. I quickly typed back a reply, saying that I was out with some friends. I shut off my phone and quickly gave it to a nearby worker, telling her to give it back afterwards.

Someone tapped me on my shoulder softly. Pulling out my earbuds, I turned around to see my favourite person in the world, Ramane. The one who talks to me like we're best friends, the one who doesn't really care when I spill things on her $3000 shirt, the one who defends me like a hawk does for her hatchling.

My manager.

She wasn't really older than me, I was 13 and she was 18. It made us closer than a singer and her manager normally would.

"What's up?" I asked, lips curved in a smile.

"You seriously didn't hear? The person who owns this place shouted for at least five hours!" She whispered.

"I was listening!" I protested, waving my iPod in her face. As I saw the logo on the back, I remembered when I got it for free, as thanks from Apple for doing their commercial.

"Alright. So you say." She patted my shoulder, and opened up her purse, pulling out a tube of lipstick and a handy mirror. "So anyways," she said. Her words were a bit distorted because of the lipstick that was being smushed onto her lips. "As I was saying, the woman who owns this place said that –"

The old overhead speaker crackled, catching their attention. "_Attention everyone. Onstage in 2 minutes. I repeat 2 minutes._"

Ramane dropped her lipstick and mirror into her purse again before looking at the speaker in exasperation. "We _know_. You told us that just a few seconds ago," she grumbled.

I laughed, trying not to stare at her redred lips too hard. "Maybe she's crazy," I said happily. I idly swirled my thumb along the iPod's Apple click wheel, feeling how smooth it was. Smooth and sensitive… fragile.

"Good point. Maybe she'll have to –"

"– go to a mental hospital!" I interrupted, smiling.

Ramane faked a pissed look. "_I_ was going to say that."

We weren't really different, Ramane and I. We both enjoyed singing, even though she said that no one liked her voice, we both thought like each other, and we came from the same type of family – strict, one sister, parents from Hong Kong. We both have long black hair, pale-ish skin and big almond shaped eyes that we exaggerated in pictures.

I shrugged contentedly, sticking in my ear buds. Ramane raised an eyebrow accusingly. I made one my weird faces and turned away. Before long, Ramane pulled out one of my earbuds.

"Hey! I –"

"Listen," she murmured.

"_– minute. I repeat, 1 minute._"

Woah. That was fast.

I quickly turned off my iPod, and wrapped the earphones neatly around it. In sync with Ramane, she held out a hand for it.

"Phone?" she asked.

"Oh, I gave it to some worker called Hazel," I replied absently while taking out her compact mirror.

She tutted me as I fixed my bangs. "You never know if she would steal it or sell it on eBay for god knows how much." She poked me on the arm in reproof. "You gotta get used to being a star. Some people worship you, ya know."

I smiled, flattered. "Okay." I snapped the mirror shut. "Do I look fine?"

Ramane scrutinized my appearance while I fixed my homemade black lace skirt and white t-shirt expertly. She smoothed my long ponytail, tightened my black wrist choker and bent down to tug up my black and white striped leggings.

"You're good to go."

I hugged her happily before going into the moving centerpiece, where I would rise up. Just by _that_ I was excited. Everyone came to check up on me, the technical staff person came and double checked if my mike was on right, my makeup professional came to do my last bit of makeup, my dance choreographer coming to give me my prop – a black baseball bat and my hair stylist came to make sure my hairstyle won't fall apart.

Ramane leaned against a wall, grinning.

Suddenly, the stage manager came running up. "I hope you have a great show!" He said brightly. "Remember everything we've taught you."He raised his voice. "Everybody! Come here!" They all crowded around me and Ramane like little children. "We've worked hard for this. Now's the time to relax and enjoy the show! Onstage in 5, okay?"

They all dispersed in a hurry, some wishing me luck. But the stage manager stayed, speaking on her mike. I guess she could communicate with everyone through that.

God, I hope I don't screw this up. I was starting to feel nervous, though eager to perform.

"You're going to be great," Ramane encouraged.

I nodded my thanks and paced around in the centerpiece, my black and white Nike 6.0 high-tops thumbing softly .

"4," The stage manager whispered.

I crouched down into my starting position, gripping the baseball bat.

"3…"

My stomach did flips.

"2…"

I heard the presentation start, the deep bass thrumming in tune with my heart.

"1…"

A roar of clapping and cheering made me smile.

"Have a great show," he murmured.

The moving centerpiece slid up slowly and silently. I saw Ramane's smiling face disappear beneath me. The higher I got, the darker my surroundings became. I heard the ending to the presentation, the part when I get out of the car with my baseball bat to whack the other gang. The stage was still dark, and I could see most of the glowing signs that were sold in the front foyer. They were all basically the same, in English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese, and I was glad that they were spelt correctly.

The music started and I could hear everyone chanting loudly, almost screaming my name.

_Coraa._

**How's **_**that**_** for a lot of P.O.V's? And a long chapter? = actually i don't know if that was long or not. Tell me the truth – do you guys like Vivienne's personality? It's not like I'm going to change it. I just wanted to know. And you can tell me by clicking that attractive button down there. =) **


	9. Say Goodbye

**Well, I was kind of disappointed by the amount of reviews by the last chapter *ahem**_**one**_**ahem* so I don't know if you guys have stopped reading or something? But there you go anyway. I've stayed up writing this, so I hope you guys ENJOY IT!**

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 9:**** Say Goodbye**

Vivienne's P.O.V

"Darrion. The radius is needed because you need to find the area of the circle."

Darrion stared at Vivienne as if she were speaking in another language. She resisted calling him an idiot again for the fifth time in ten seconds. For god's sake. She shouldn't have picked the seat next to him in math.

"How do you find the area, then?" He asked.

She pursed her lips and stared at him. Seriously? The formula was right _there._ _On the sheet, right in front of his face._ She tapped the formula and plugged in her iPod, turning it up high.

Before long, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"_What._"

"So Viv, you add this together and then multiply it by that, right?"

Vivienne didn't even _try_ to see what he was saying. It was too much work.

"Darrion… I have to do my math too. Ask Mr. G or Rachelle or something." She turned back to her work. And waited. Waited for him to tap her shoulder again.

But when she finished almost a page of math, he didn't do anything. Weird. She turned around to look at him, to see where he'd gone. But he was still there; his head was down on the desk, hands gripping his head. She lightly touched his shoulder.

His head snapped up and he looked at her. Her heart gave a weird thump in her chest as she noticed his eyes were bloodshot and unfocused. His face was scrunched up, as if trying to remember something and his fingers were still gripping his head. There was no trace of a smile on his face.

"Uhh… Darrion?"

She was wary that he would jump up and scare her or something.

"Viv." He let his hands drop and put one on her shoulder, squeezing.

"Ow!"

"Vivienne. I can't remember. Oh my god, I can't remember. Help me."

Okay, this was getting weird. "Umm…"

"What – no I can't – there's – yesterday he – ughhh…" His eyes never stayed on her face, always jumping around everywhere.

His head snapped to another direction and when he looked at her again, his gaze was finally clear.

"Darrion?" She shivered unconsciously.

"So Viv, can you help me find the area of this?" He asked, voice normal.

Vivienne looked at him strangely. Is there something wrong with him?

"Viv!" She didn't answer. Just stared. "Such a nice _friend_ you are!" And with that, he stomped away.

She kept her gaze on him the whole time.

* * *

_"TOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!"_

Vivienne thought of the shriek as a wave that traveled through the hallway, drowning everyone in the pure agony of its shrillness. Students flattened themselves against lockers and walls to avoid a flying bomb that ran with lizard legs. Eliza was instantly in Tom's arms despite the fact that he was carrying a crapload of stuff already. She instantly began her lecture of how he should've come back earlier and lalalalalala. Vivienne dispersed into the crowd before Tom used her as a lifeboat. She would say hi later.

* * *

Vivienne slipped into the classroom just as the bell rang.

"Vivienne." A deep voice caused her to trip and almost fall flat on her face. A strong hand gripped her in time, and she saw a few black rings that contrasted with the pale skin. The spot that he'd touched tingled in a familiar way and she sat down confusedly.

"Tomorrow is your test, and you have this period to work on the review sheets I passed out to you," Mr. Gyld said in the front of the classroom.

She blinked out of her daze and looked around her. Her search landed on a particular guy she held an extreme dislike for, whom so happened to be sitting on her left. Will Rong. His powerful grace and beauty seemed to hit her physically once again. His black side bangs hung down sloppily on his face, and the room's lights lightened up his brown highlights. Earbuds hung from his ears and he was showing off a black earring in his lobe and one in his cartilage. Today, he was wearing a black tank top and she could see a delicate design of black roses and curving stems on his shoulder. She blinked again. It was still there.

This fourteen year-old has a _tattoo_?

He seemed to notice her gaze on him, because he turned from his work to study her with his mysterious black eyes. He removed one of his earbuds, leaving it dangling down the front of his shirt.

"Will you stop looking at me?" He asked in the voice of liquid ink. Very dark and sexy.

Vivienne's eyes bulged out. Did she just call him… sexy…? She stopped herself from laughing at the ridiculous-ness of the situation. First of all, they were talking to each other like they were very close acquaintances. Second of all, she just called a guy who wasn't famous "sexy". Weird day.

"Stop looking at me, or I'll make you." He glared and turned back to his work.

Vivienne unfroze and scowled. "Damn you," she muttered.

"Who taught Vivienne to swear past Eliza's guard?" Someone drawled behind her.

Vivienne twisted around to see who it was and beamed. "Tom!" She jumped up and embraced him with delight. She stepped back and gave him an onceover.

Tom was a tall guy, a tall _emo_ guy at that, who had these beautiful green eyes like emeralds, as well as black spiked hair. His trademark black lip and eyebrow ring glinted with his eyeliner-lined eyes and his hands rested on the strap of the black food bag for Eliza. He always reminded Vivienne of Tom Riddle, as in Voldermort, except without that creepy, snaky look. He looked slightly tanned for the season and his arms seemed to have gone harder.

"Where's Eliza? Shouldn't she be here with you since you've been gone for so long?" She asked teasingly. She threw Will out of her mind and watched Tom pull up a chair beside her.

"I've managed to escape her… for now." He winked. "But she'll probably hang around for a longer time later."

"Have you said hi to everyone else yet?"

"All but Kristina and you. Well, not you anymore." He lowered his voice. "I don't really want her to… you know. I don't want Eliza to get pissed again."

Vivienne nodded in understanding. Yes, she knew backstabbing was horrible, but seriously, everyone makes fun of others. She was just… following a trend. She and Tom had lots of conversations about Kristina, conversations that wouldn't be pleasant for Kristina to know about.

"Well," she clapped her hands in delight. "I'm glad you're back!!!"

Tom grinned. "_No_, you're just waiting to see if I brought presents for everyone."

"No…"

"Yeah right, I can see it in your eyes." He poked her. "Anyways, you'll all be glad to know that I _have_ brought fucking presents for everyone."

"_No swearing!_" Vivienne yelled.

"Are you done your work, Vivienne?" Mr. Gyld asked from his desk while Tom hid underneath _her_ desk.

She smiled sheepishly. "No…" She ducked her head and started reading the first question.

"Ha, loser," Tom whispered gleefully.

"Shut _up_."

"Hey," His voice turned serious, and he kept his low tone. "Who's that guy beside you?"

She didn't need to look to know he meant Will. "He's called Will and he's an idiot."

Tom chuckled. "What did he do?"

"Oh, nothing he just annoys me. He's sort of like Mike, ya know?"

"I…" He hesitated. "I… I have a feeling that –"

"Tommy!" Eliza flew in and sat down on his lap.

"Eliza!" I grinned, relieved. Hmm. Wonder why.

"What are you doing in here?" Tom asked happily.

"I was _looking_ for you, stupid."

"Okay then." He patted her head.

"Where's my present?"

"Ummm…"

Eliza spun around and hit him on the head. "You _didn't bring me a present?!_"

Tom rubbed his head thoughtfully. "I think I might've forgotten…" Before Eliza could hit him again, he added, "Joking, joking."

Tom lifted Eliza up and placed her on the ground, standing up himself. "See you later," he said meaningfully to Vivienne. To Eliza, he held his hand out and smiled. "Come," he said simply.

Both of them walked away, leaving Vivienne alone and bewildered. What was the deal with Tom? And what was the deal with her instincts? First she feels that Darrion is messed up, and then she feels relieved that Tom got interrupted? Tom wouldn't have… _no._ As the bell rang, she threw a useless pencil into the garbage can, visualizing her thoughts going with it.

Vivienne followed the rush of the crowd, and felt the excitement of the end of school. _She_, on the other hand didn't want school to end. She loved the lectures that drove all the drama away and the feeling of accomplishment. Suddenly, through the pushing and shoving, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and immediately knew who it was. Darrion. It was so familiar, and so familiarly annoying that she couldn't help but glare.

"What now?" She hastily added a smile after, so it wouldn't seem too harsh and more like a joke.

Darrion laughed. "Hey Viv."

So clueless. "Hi."

He opened his locker noisily. "What's for homework?" He asked, taking out a science textbook.

"English, math, science and drama," she said distractedly. She _had_ to finish the French project, or else Will would start annoying her again, and what good would that be? She scowled to herself. Oh, and what was Tom going to say…? She pondered vaguely.

A loud thump accompanied by a sharp pain on her right toe sucked her out of her thoughts.

"What is your problem?!" She immediately yelled at Darrion.

But he was past noticing. He stood stock still in the middle of the hallway. His hands gripped his head again, and his eyes were squeezed shut. He kept muttering something under his breath.

"Uhh… Darrion?" She asked hesitantly.

He returned to normal abruptly and picked up his bag and textbook. Someone shouted something at him and he yelled back, as if nothing had happened. Ugh. Is this some sort of joke?! She straightened herself and threw her backpack on, muttering curses all the way.

"Darrion!" She finally yelled.

"Yeah?" He looked down at her. His eyes were sparkling.

"What's wrong with you?" She refused to admit she was crazy.

He stopped joking around and settled for a serious face that hardly came across his face. "Nothing's wrong with me."

"Then what's with this?!" She demonstrated the pose he had when he was clutching at his head.

"I..." She noticed his eyes weren't sparkling… but they were shining. What the _hell_? "I remember," he murmured. "I remembered, and now I'm going to pay for it." His mutter was full of dread. His hands fidgeted by his sides. Were those _tears_ in his eyes?

"What?! ...Darrion can you stop this joke? You're pissing me off."

"I've found out. I remember… all that blood… I'll pay for it today," he muttered, his hands shaking. "I'll pay for it… nowhere to hide… the price is blood..."

Vivienne stared at Darrion as he hurried out the school, ignoring all the hi's and bye's and his hands shaking uncontrollably all the way. What's wrong with him? She wondered. Maybe it's a joke. Some lame joke. Whatever.

Her heart started to thump unevenly as she got out of the building and dread filled her every sense. It seemed to squish her from everywhere, so she couldn't breathe. Vivienne quickened her pace, and later that night, even when she staring at the ceiling, she felt a strange kind of remorse and guilt tied in with terror.

**Dadada!! Review please? =( **


	10. Worries

**A new chapter........ welcome! ~ ^^**

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 10: Worries**

Vivienne's P.O.V

Dear Diary,

I don't know what's happening to me. Remember the dreams, the feelings, and stuff? Remember the feeling of _wanting_? Well, here's the story. One night I was listening to this song, and suddenly, my… _heart hurt._ It burned. It made me want to cry. Maybe it's a more intensified emotion of the want because I could feel it. A feeling of longing wailing inside my chest, begging to be let out. But what do I even _want_? When I let it fly, where will it go?

XOXO,

Vivienne

"Okay… roll call," Mr. Gyld called from the front of the room, holding the purple attendance folder.

"Ryan?"

"Here."

"Rashad?"

"Here."

"Kim?"

"Here."

"Yollis?"

"Here."

"Darrion?"

The class's chatter didn't stop, didn't pause. But Vivienne heard a deafening silence that roared in her ears, all the same.

"Absent," She heard Mr. Gyld mumble to himself.

"Hey, I wonder where Darrion went," Vivienne said casually.

Her besties, her group of friends, Naomi, Eliza, Rachelle, Penelope and Kristina, all stopped their updates and grunted agreements. Well… except for Kristina and Eliza, who had developed an extreme disliking towards him.

"It's weird though. It's the middle of a term. It's not even close to a break and he's not here," Vivienne continued. "It's almost been two weeks since I saw him and that was after school. You don't think he died or something right?'" She grinned jokingly.

Kristina sniffed. "Well wherever he went, I hope he stays there."

"Maybe someone can call him," Penelope suggested. She looked over at Naomi.

"Do I _look_ like I have a lot of time?" Naomi snapped. "He doesn't have anything to do with me." She slapped Penelope's binder closed, and glared at her. "Why don't _you_ call him?"

Penelope just shot her a look. They were going to go to a cosplay convention that Naomi took very seriously, so she was kind of wound up these days. Everyone understood.

"Penelope's right though," Rachelle said. She fiddled with the zipper on her binder. "Someone should check up on him."

"Not me," Vivienne said quickly.

"I don't have his phone number," Penelope stated.

"I don't either," Rachelle said.

"Don't even look at me," Kristina said. "And why would I even have his phone number?"

Vivienne smirked. "Cause the moment you got a cell phone, you asked _everybody_ for their number?"

Kristina slapped her on the shoulder lightly, muttering under her breath. Everyone turned to Eliza, who was absorbed in the book she was holding. Or at least she _looked_ like she was absorbed.

Feeling all the eyes on her, she glanced up and sighed. "I don't understand why you all think _I_ would have his phone number, but who cares, because I don't." She paused. Everyone still stared at her. She rolled her eyes. "Darrion is probably fine, just sick in his bed and drinking a cup of tea or something. He's probably not feeling well, okay? So _no one_ has to call him or see how he's doing at all, because he is fine," she said irritably.

Rachelle exchanged a glance with Penelope. "I guess so."

Vivienne hoped that that was the case.

* * *

Her iPod switched to another song. Vivienne sighed. It's been 3 minutes and 45 seconds since she looked at him. She allowed herself to peek sideways again, to the boy sitting across the room. His black-brown hair covered half his face, or at least a third of it. She looked at his casual stance. It looked so powerful… like he could break the table he was leaning against into pieces. And his eyes… she'd never known there were such horribly dark pools of ink that existed. She should really stop staring. Either he's going to turn around to look at her or her French teacher is going to notice her lack of attention.

_I hate you_, she thought to Will in a passionate burst.

She looked back at the clock. Ten minutes till lunch. Shouldn't the homework get passed out or something? She tapped her pencil against her notebook to the beat of the current song playing in her ears.

"Who is making that tapping noise?"

Vivienne stopped as people looked at her. She smiled sheepishly and placed the pencil on her desk. She knew her iPod was in full view, but the teacher just smiled in a reproving way and went back to teaching. The benefits of having teachers like you. You could do whatever you want, and the rules would bend for you.

Suddenly the overhead speaker crackled, drawing everyone's attention.

"Hello. Can Lindsay, Penelope, Vivienne and Rachelle come to the office please?"

Her French teacher sighed. "Yes, they'll be on their way."

Vivienne grinned, meeting Penelope's eyes and almost skipped out the classroom to the hallway. No more French!

"Hey _guys._ Do you know what this is about?" Lindsay came out, her straightened blonde hair looking white in the light. She was one of those "nice popular kids" that weren't stuck up. She was a social girl who talked to what her crowd called "losers".

"Nah." Rachelle came out too. "Maybe someone wants to see us."

"Yeah, but why am_ I _with you guys?" Lindsay asked.

Vivienne understood. Lindsay didn't mean it in a mean way; she just meant they don't really hang out together like she, Penelope and Rachelle do, so it was weird they were called down simultaneously.

"Dunno," Penelope said.

"I'm just happy to be out of French," Vivienne said, skipping in the hallway for real. She felt so carefree, so weightless that it was impossible to _not_ skip. Plus, the hallway was empty of people except them. The school runs a tight rule of no loitering.

Lindsay snorted. "Seriously, I would rather Mr. Zwaine teach us than that bitch. At least _he_ has a sense of humour."

They cracked up as they reached the office. Rachelle pulled it open, holding it for everyone to pass through, always being the sweet one. Vivienne looked around, seeing no one around. That was when she saw an African-American couple in a cut-off room – the principal's office. Mr. Gyld was inside too, as was Mike, and a guy in the other class called Nate.

"Hello ladies. What do you want?" A business-like secretary walked towards them. Her stomach jiggled and her beady blue eyes regarded them with distaste. Vivienne immediately felt her insides curl. She _hated_ that woman. Well, everyone did.

"Umm, the office called us?" Lindsay said rather rudely. Vivienne applauded inside her head. Lindsay was looked at the woman as if she had sprouted a devil's horns and tail. She probably has those, just invisible to everyone, Vivienne thought.

"Hey! _Watch your attitude_." The secretary glared and jabbed a beefy finger at Lindsay. "Sit there." She pointed to a bench beside them and waddled away, like the toad she was. Vivienne scowled. Lindsay's attitude was nothing, compared to hers.

They sat down, and just as Vivienne was about to say something, the door to the principal's office opened.

"Thank you. You can go back to your class now," Mr. Gyld was saying. He looked out to the bench. "Lindsay? Can you come in here please?" He looked slightly concerned about something.

Lindsay got up and muttered to herself. Mike and Nate got up and wordlessly went out, and as they passed by Lindsay, they shrugged at the hidden question in her eyes. Lindsay picked up her pace, strode inside and the heavy door shut.

"Guys! What's up?" Rachelle whispered to the boys.

Mike looked around and bent down to their level. "You know those parents?" He asked, almost mischievously. But he looked a little worried, like Mr. Gyld.

Rachelle nodded.

"They're Darrion's parents. They're here to ask about him. I think he's –"

"Both of you," the secretary snapped, suddenly appearing. "Get to your classes." Her double chin wobbled unsteadily. Vivienne wondered if it was going to fall off.

Mike shrugged and got out, Nate right behind him, mumbling apologies. The secretary then gave all three of them the evil eye and went back to her desk, secretly pulling out a box of Butter cookies. No wonder she's so fat, Vivienne thought.

"What do you think happened to Darrion?" Penelope softly whispered in Vivienne's ears.

She shrugged. Why consider the options, the possibilities? Her instincts were saying that something really bad happened, but she didn't want to listen to them. She didn't want to deal with anything; face anything at all, just ignore all the problems till the end. She heard Penelope ask Rachelle the same thing, and unlike her, Rachelle silently indulged into all the potential causes, Penelope occasionally adding a comment or two.

You're being anti-social, her conscience whispered in her ear. Talk to them. They're your friends.

She mentally chucked her conscience into a box and sat on it. Screw you.

All of a sudden, the door clicked open and Mr. Gyld's voice floated across the room.

"Remember, Lindsay. If he contacts you in any way, immediately tell someone."

Vivienne exchanged a glance with Penelope and Rachelle.

She saw Lindsay nod solemnly and step outside. She was clutching her gray iPhone in both hands and she was looking at the ground. When she passed by the three, she didn't even look over. Just continued walking back to class. Vivienne turned her attention back to the people in the office.

"I guess we can have all three of them together, right?" Mr. Gyld was saying to someone Vivienne couldn't see. He waited a beat before looking back at them and waving them inside.

They all stood up as one and hesitantly, Vivienne began walking forward to the office. Inside, the shutters were drawn, so the room was almost dark. Strips of light came from the cracks of the shutters, illuminating dusk particles floating around. A cluttered wooden desk was in the middle, complete with a computer, a black, official-looking chair behind and five chairs for visitors. Their principal, Mr. Mable, was seated in the chair behind the desk; the two African-American adults – Darrion's parents – were in two chairs, perfectly leaving three chairs for them. Mr. Gyld was leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed and as Vivienne sat down, she spotted a male police officer in the room that was unnoticed before. Her heart caught in her throat, and she heard the muted sounds of surprise of Rachelle and Penelope.

There was silence as no one spoke. Finally, she raised the question.

"Excuse me, but why are we here?" She tried to keep her voice steady. She was rather intimidated by the atmosphere of the whole seriousness of the room.

The police officer leaned forward on the desk, like they do in movies.

"My name is Cable Burke," his voice was deep and rich. "You can call me Officer Cable. I am called here today to investigate a disappearance." He looked at them steadily, each in the eye. "The disappearance of Darrion Ammon. You know him?"

Vivienne nodded along with her friends, utterly speechless.

"When did you find out he disappeared?" Rachelle asked slowly.

Vivienne was vaguely impressed. She wouldn't have the guts to ask them that, even say a single word, or make a sound. Her head was still going bonkers about the disappearance of Darrion. _The disappearance of Darrion. _The _disappearance._

The woman – Mrs. Ammon – cleared her throat. Vivienne robotically turned her head to her. The place between her eyebrows had a deep crease, as if it were scrunched up for days like that. "We were away on a business trip for a few days before and we left him alone at the house. He was old enough to take care of himself. When we got back, we didn't see him. There was no note… nothing. His backpack was dumped on the couch as usual and dirty dishes were piled up in the sink… it looked so normal. We searched everywhere, called his friends, and they said they haven't seen or heard from Darrion since school. So we decided to wait for a day." Her lips pressed into a thin line.

"He never came back," Mr. Ammon said grimly. "His clothes and everything were still there. We don't know what happened."

Vivienne felt her insides freeze. _He never came back._

Officer Cable put a modern voice recorder on the desk. He pressed a button and a red light shone, signalling that it was recording. "Now tell us what you know," he said, stepping back to give them space.

"Basically, we want to know when the last time you'd heard from him was," Mr. Mable said gently.

"I would say… it was exactly nine days ago, during last period," Rachelle said kindly. "I didn't see him after that."

"I last saw him when we passed by the hallway after school. I was going to the music room, and he looked like he was going to the lockers." Penelope sat back. She timidly looked at Mr. and Mrs. Ammon. Her face was a mask of dismay and worry, just like Lindsay.

Now it was her turn. Vivienne unfroze cleared her throat. "I um… last saw him umm… at our lockers after school. I… I remember he was acting really weird." She started growing more confident with each word. "He kept saying things under his breath like, "I found out, he's gonna kill me" and stuff like that." Officer Cable was looking at her funny. She glanced at her hands and remembered _his_ shaking hands. "He looked really nervous, and I thought he saw his test mark when he wasn't supposed to or something. Then I watched him go out the door, you know, the Intermediate doors," she added to Mr. Mable and Mr. Gyld.

"Has he contacted any of you in any way?" Officer Cable asked sternly.

"No."

Their three voices sounded strong together.

The officer pressed the button to stop recording, relaxed back and sighed. "Thank you." He ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I want you to remember: if he calls, texts, emails, whatever to you, _tell someone._ I'd rather you tell me, since I'm taking care of this case." He pulled out a stack of paper. He wrote down his number three times and handed them to Penelope. "There you go. If I don't answer on the first try – which is unlikely – then try again. Try at least three times, okay?"

They nodded.

Vivienne suddenly felt very cool and composed, as if they were discussing about a missing cat, or even a missing pencil case. She was no longer nervous in front of the adults or nervous for Mr. and Mrs. Ammon. She was frozen, floating in an ocean of calm, and it was as if she were looking at the problem from a distance. As if the missing thing wasn't Darrion, her friend, as if she were just watching this from a TV screen. Little did she know, the ocean she was floating in was neither calm nor comforting. It was one big black puddle of denial.

"Ummm…" Penelope glanced at Rachelle for support. "Why didn't you put up signs everywhere nor do the broadcasting thing on TV yet?"

Mrs. Ammon sighed and shook her head regretfully. "We hoped he would come back soon, and it would be unnecessary to notify the whole world about his dis…" She massaged her temples. "…disappearance," she muttered.

"We'll be doing that after we're finished here," Officer Cable added significantly.

Vivienne was too lost in her inner "calm" to notice, but her friends seemed to get it and they stood up. Vivienne followed. She looked behind her at Darrion's parents, seeming to see them for the first time. Mrs. Ammon seemed to be very strong; she never shed a tear, her eyes didn't look puffy, nor did her voice quaver once. Mr. Ammon just looked grave and beaten up; he had traces of dark circles under his eyes.

"We hope you find Darrion soon," Vivienne said expressionlessly. It seemed to be the right thing to say.

Mr. Ammon nodded. "Thank you," he said gruffly.

She then filed out the room after Rachelle, Penelope nearly stepping on her heels. The secretary glared at them as they passed by her desk, but Vivienne was too full of questions and worry in her head to notice. They didn't say a word as they went back to French. The hallways were empty, magnifying their strained silence. So Darrion was missing, Vivienne thought. He either ran away or got kidnapped somehow. Okay. She fumbled in her pockets for her iPod. The music can wash away everything. Her hand trembled slightly as she untangled the wires. She could feel this giant explosion that was coming, and she wanted to ward it off as long as possible.

They went in just as her teacher told her classmates to get to work. Finally, it was work time, she thought dully. Thank god.

Darrion is missing. Gone, her conscience hissed from the box she was sitting on. Why are you so calm?

Darrion is not gone, she replied, quiet and detached. He probably left somewhere and forgot to write a note to his parents. He is fine.

His parents said that was unlikely, her conscience argued.

Vivienne ignored it and stepped in with her friends behind her. She approached the desk and saw Kristina look up from her worksheet curiously. She probably wants some gossip or something.

"Well?" Kristina prodded. "Why were you guys called down?"

Vivienne stared at her.

"Are you okay?" Naomi asked. "You look kind of sick," she added.

Vivienne turned her stare on Naomi. She dimly heard Penelope start from the beginning, like a story.

"Darrion disappeared," she cut in abruptly.

Five pairs of eyes stared at her.

"Darrion _what_?" Kristina blurted.

"What do you mean 'disappeared'?!" Naomi asked loudly, eyes wide.

"It's true," Mike called from across the room. "We went to the office because of that."

Vivienne suddenly noticed everyone was silent, either in shock or thought. Her French teacher was to be missing and no one seemed to be actually doing the French they were supposed to do. She scrutinized the looks on their faces, and saw the same old – shock, worry, disbelief, blankness… That was when she saw one face that was out of the ordinary and briefly startled her out of her ocean. Will. He looked sort of frustrated and angry; his eyes were glaring at the desk darkly, as if he wanted to chop it in half, and his hands were clenched in fists, knuckles white. He somewhat resembled a feral animal.

"Are you serious?" Someone demanded. "Darrion's just sick or something, right? He's not _gone_. He can't be."

"They have a police officer in the office," Lindsay said. "His parents are there, Mr. Gyld's there… they told me they're suspecting kidnap."

There were a few gasps and then everyone started talking at once.

"Darrion is… _kidnapped?_"

"Who would do that?"

"When did it happen?"

"OH MY GOSH! WHAT IF HE'S DEAD?!"

The shriek shut everyone up for a second before a louder uproar began.

"You can't joke about that!"

"That's not funny!"

"_I wasn't trying to be funny!"_

Vivienne felt a hollow place in her heart as the shock of the meeting and the disappearance caught up with her. She suddenly couldn't breathe right. It seemed hard to get oxygen in her lungs with the emotions swirling around and weighing down her. She gulped and looked at the clock, seeing it was almost the end of school. She quickly packed her things and crept out the room. She couldn't seem to stand everyone's predictions and emotions. Maybe she'll hang around her locker for a few minutes. The music thumping in her ear didn't help so she turned off the iPod and stuffed it deep into her baggy pocket.

She was spinning her locker combo when she heard footsteps behind her. She looked automatically and glimpsed some sort of black-red-gold-brown creature-thing. Before she could distinguish who it was, her body had already spun her to look back at the locker.

"Hey."

Vivienne glanced sideways, seeing the in-distinguishable guy who was now very distinguishable.

She smiled faintly. "Hi Alex."

She felt her spirits lift when she recognized the face. Since the day he'd run away from Kristina after she woke up from her fainting spell, they'd hung out together a lot. She'd started to think of him a lot as a brother, since she was an only child. He had that cool, teasing personality and she loved his warm hugs that made her feel better.

"Yo. Are you okay?" He leaned against the lockers with a worried expression.

Vivienne sharply exhaled as she opened her locker. "Have you heard?"

"What?"

"Darrion's gone. He disappeared. The police are involved," she muttered in one breath.

Only a good listener could understand what she was saying.

"You're worried, aren't you?" He asked simply.

Vivienne was too drained to snap. She nodded. "The class is saying he's dead and kidnapped or he's run away and they're obsessing over it and what if he's _dead_?!" She exploded in a fume of rage and bottled up horror.

"Don't be _ridiculous_." Alex put a hand on her shoulder and made her look at him. She weakly pulled away but she liked the warmth there. "Darrion's not _dead._ He's fine out there 'cause he's tough. He'll be alright. Right now, he's probably waiting for us to find him and cursing himself for forgetting a phone." His lips quirked up in an attempt to cheer her up.

Vivienne smiled wanly. "Thanks Alex," she said.

He chuckled and gave her a one-arm hug. "Don't worry, okay?"

"Kay. Now go away," she teased half-heartedly.

"See ya." He grinned and left, messing with his hair.

Vivienne smiled and she gradually felt the empty part Darrion had left behind almost heal up fully.

**Is it good? Is it good? I thought it was kinda slow.... but I needed it in there xD REVIEW PLEASE?? I'm getting desperate here.  
**


	11. Sorry Sorry

**I'll talk to you guys on the bottom. =)**

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 11: Sorry Sorry**

Will's P.O.V

Will's mind felt overcrowded. All his thoughts surrounded that vermin missing from his school, and all of them were angry. It was all he could do to stop himself from killing anyone on the street. He knew the case was pointing fingers to the Night World. But they've never been so reckless with the leftover vermin – they were always sure of compelling them to keep them from finding out. Which meant the fingers were pointing to a different spot, someone not as uptight about the rules. His black book bag thumped against his thigh as he ran back home. Adriel better be there… or else he'll have to waste time looking for him. Will spread out his mind in all directions to look for his brother – ah yes, Adriel was inside. Perfect.

Keep calm, his inner voice advised him. Don't burst through the door like an animal.

Will stalked through the door and slammed it gracefully behind him. He kept his back to Adriel's presence – the kitchen. He dropped his book bag beside the couch, turned on the TV and opened up his laptop to stall for time. Why, he did not know. Finally, he had to turn around. Adriel's impatience to his anger was growing and his own anger was starting to get out of control.

When he started to stare expressionlessly at Adriel, he did a double take.

Umm, what the hell? Will thought.

His eyes widened and he took in the scene of the kitchen. There were two vermin girls sitting at their table, and Adriel was behind the counter, holding up a silver knife, and wearing an… apron? Will almost cracked a grin at the flowers and butterflies he was wearing, but his anger got the better of him.

"What is this?" Will regained his mask and kept his voice steady and quiet.

"What do you think this is?"

Adriel's voice was full of humour, which only made Will madder than he was before.

"Why is there vermin in our house? Why are you wearing an apron? What are you doing?" He wasn't shouting, but he felt he was going to, soon.

Adriel waved the knife at him. "I'm obviously cooking." He nodded at the two humans. "And meet Sasha and Nicole. Say hi, ladies," he added.

Will didn't even glance at them as they waved and winked. "What is wrong with you?" His voice turned low and dark. "Mom and Dad told us to lie low when they're gone." His eyes were black and burned with fury.

Adriel rolled his eyes and began chopping up onions skillfully. "Will, tell me, where do you think they are? They're somewhere across the world, like Australia, and jumping around with kangaroos." He snorted. "Mom and Dad aren't here to watch us, and besides… I think they'll agree to this kind of fun," he added slyly.

Will had enough. Red clouds surrounded his mind and he leapt for Adriel without thinking. His hand gripped Adriel's throat, but he kept his fangs in, only letting his eyes show the rage.

"Are you PMSing again?" Adriel asked conversationally. "I don't think girls do that as much as you."

"Shut the hell up." Will dug his nails into Adriel's neck.

Adriel dumped the chopped onions in a bowl. He then forcefully tore Will's hand away, not even wincing when Will's nails left trails.

"Why are you PMSing?" Adriel demanded.

That was when Will landed his first punch, right on Adriel's cheekbone.

"What the _fuck_?"

Adriel put Will in a chokehold, squeezing tightly. His head felt like it was going to burst. Shit, this was going the wrong way, he thought. Will dug his nails into Adriel's arm, and finally Adriel let go. Stifling a cough, Will flew to where Sasha was sitting and sank his fangs into her wrist. She didn't even cry out.

Adriel's got the compelling going on good, Will thought vaguely.

The warm blood trickled down his throat, and he gulped hungrily. He wanted it all, this magical potion; the elixir of life. He finally licked the wound close and licked his lips. His fangs were already shrunken down.

Adriel was smirking at Will. "Now can we talk about this… issue like civilized people?"

Taking in his emotions, Will looked emptily at him and jumped onto the couch. Adriel slowly walked to the other couch and flopped on it. Will noticed that Adriel had taken off the apron.

"Let's talk, Adriel." Will spoke casually. "How's your refrigerator? His blood's still clean, right?"

Adriel looked sharply at Will. "He's quite fine, thanks. How's yours?"

Will ignored his question. "Really? I haven't seen him in a while at school."

"Hmm. I haven't noticed."

Will randomly drew patterns on the couch. "I even heard that he went missing a couple of days ago."

"Oh, really? How unfortunate." Adriel's voice was still calm.

Enough.

Will ran at vampire speed to Adriel, grabbing a pencil along the way. He stood over Adriel's slouched figure, pointing the pencil at him.

"Why did you kill him?" He asked coolly. Don't let your emotions vetray you, he thought to himself. He even slid a hand in his pocket.

Adriel put on an innocent face. "I didn't kill anybody."

"Don't lie," Will said. He studied the pencil thoughtfully.

"I didn't."

"Did you know wood poison can kill off a vampire in two hours, no matter how small the wound is?" Will asked placidly. "If the piece of wood is stuck in the correct spot, of course," he added. He dangled the pencil in front of Adriel's face.

"Fine. I did." Adriel lay down on the couch and crossed his arms.

"Why did you kill him?" Will asked, his voice going deadly.

"It was a statement, man. The gang wanted the Daybreakers to know that not everyone wants to be hippies. He was kind of dirty, you know. I would've disposed of him later anyway." Adriel shrugged. "Now I have Sasha and Nicole."

"You _bastard_."

Adriel looked up in surprise. "Why are you so concerned about him? He's vermin. Disposable. What's with this fucking attitude?"

Will coolly studied him. Vivienne's hurting because of you. You could've killed some other guy.

"I'm just curious," he said abruptly. Will glanced at the kitchen, pretending to be checking on Adriel's new food supply. "And the parents? Why didn't you compel them?" He asked, to distract his brother.

"Jeez, little brother. I'd have thought you were smarter." Adriel shook his head in mock sadness. "If the vermin don't find out, then how do the Daybreakers get our no-peace idea?"

Having nothing else to say, Will flopped back on his couch. "And the body?" He asked carelessly, drawing patterns again. He ignored the way he internally winced for bringing Vivienne pain.

He heard Adriel chuckle. "Be patient, Will. You'll soon find out."

Vivienne's P.O.V

Vivienne stepped into her car eyes flickering dully around before slamming the door shut. Her mom slowly turned the car onto the main road, glancing every-so often at the still figure beside her. But Vivienne didn't notice – she just stared vacantly out the window. The only sounds were the radio and the occasional honking of horns. Vivienne pressed her head to the cold window. She felt dead, like an empty corpse brought to life… a vampire, in ways. Numbness was spreading through her chest, despite Alex's earlier comforts. The warmth she had felt was lost again.

"V… I heard about your friend," her mom finally said.

Vivienne said nothing.

"Don't worry, okay? Everything's going to be okay."

She nodded slowly. "I'm just tired," she lied.

Her mom glanced at her daughter again, but knew to say nothing. They lapsed into a dreary silence after that, but Vivienne wasn't aware that. She was too busy thinking. Where is Darrion? Is he really dead? Or just missing? She thought.

He's definitely dead, a voice said in her mind.

Vivienne closed her eyes and her brows furrowed. If it's been a few days ago, then he's probably dead, she agreed. Where else could he be?

People must die eventually, the voice said again.

True… but why so soon? Sure, Darrion was stupid and annoying, but didn't everyone have a right to live? Though she said that she wanted him to die before, she didn't actually want that to happen. He was nice to be around. Anyway, why him? Why not some stranger? It was selfish, but… it would be easier for her to not know the person who died.

Much, much easier…

_A shadow of a girl was in front of her. She put a hand lightly on Vivienne's and started running forward. Without thinking, Vivienne followed her. Just as she was about to touch the girl, a door appeared in front of her in the mist and shadows. The girl was no where to be seen. Vivienne stepped through, trying to look for her, but a bright light enveloped her, and she suddenly found herself at her swimming pool. Vivienne frowned. She hadn't been here in a long time… but why now? The girl was still no where to be seen. Weird._

_ "Vivienne!" Someone screamed, causing some of her other friends to scream too._

_ What? There are people here? Vivienne glanced around. Hmm… seems like her whole swim team is here. Funny how she didn't notice before. She gave the kids a weak smile and spotted Melissa._

_ Melissa!_

_ "Stop being an Asian emo," Melissa chided._

_ I'm not being one. My friend is missing and I think he's dead, Vivienne wanted to say. But her lips formed other words._

_ "I'm not emo." Wait, what? "Actually, I Googled it and it said, quote, 'An emo is clearly defined by their music and their sense of hurting themselves'. And I don't listen to screamo music or cut myself daily," her mouth said._

_ Wait. This is what I said last week. When I did that weird thing and Will came, she realized. This was the lost memory._

_ "You still dress like an emo," Melissa was saying._

_ What is going on?_

_ Vivienne watched in confusion and horror as the scene played out in front of her. Suddenly, when the goggles clattered to the floor and she found the crumpled note in her palm, the scene stopped. It melted away, replaced by the earlier misty darkness. Vivienne looked around her, searching for the girl that had led her here. She needed to know what happened. Then the fog cleared and she saw the outline of the girl. Her back was turned to her. Vivienne reached out to turn the girl around and gasped. The girl was a mirror image of herself, except her hair was longer and her eyes were all black instead of brown._

_ "Find the note," the girl said. "Find the note and read it. Remember what it says, then destroy it. Don't let anyone see it."_

_ Vivienne cocked her head at her lookalike. What are you talking about, she tried to ask. But the words won't come out of her mouth and the girl smirked, fading away._

_ Then Vivienne was left alone._

Vivienne's P.O.V

"… yeah, and then I woke up," Vivienne said. Her eyes darted side to side, looking for anyone else listening.

"Woah… that's weird," Rachelle said. "I've never dreamt of anything like that before."

Everyone nodded in agreement. It was the first time that no one was sad about Darrion's disappearance, or possible death. They were sitting on the floor in a secluded hallway area, discussing about weird things that happened to them.

"Hey! Maybe the dream is trying to tell you a message," Penelope said in a hushed murmur. Her eyes widened with mock mystery.

"Yeah! Then it would be like one of those dramas I watch," Naomi added, voice turning dreamy. "_You know_, the dream is telling you to find your soulmate, and then after a lot of problems, you two finally meet and get together." She grinned.

"I hope I get a guy if you find your 'soulmate'." Kristina said casually. "You guys always get the guys, and I, am the only one who hasn't had a guy crush on me before."

Vivienne rolled her eyes with everyone else. It wasn't the first time Kristina had complained about that. Apparently Eliza and Rachelle wasn't surprised that she didn't have any guys liking her, because of her outlook and personality. Well maybe except for Darrion… She felt the old ache inside of her when she thought of Darrion. Again. He really did play a big part in everyone's life, being a popular jock-idiot thing.

"I find it weird how you remembered part of the memory," Alex said, suddenly appearing from out of nowhere.

Everyone stared at him in silence.

"You were… listening?" Vivienne finally asked.

"Yeah… I was right here the whole time." He gestured to his spot behind a wall.

Kristina stepped forward and almost smiled. "Were you spying on us?"

Alex looked at her for a moment. Vivienne understood his glance. He was still weirded out because of her constant obsession of him. "No… I was filming for English," he said slowly. "I was packing up then you guys started talking."

"Pleasedon'ttell," Vivienne quickly gushed out, hoping her cheeks weren't red. After all, it's kind of embarrassing that she dreamt of a mirror image. What grade was she in? Two?

Alex rolled his eyes. "Yeah, don't worry."

"_Anyways_," Eliza cut in, steering everyone back in the right direction. "Aren't you _supposed_ to get your memory back after a while?" Eliza asked.

Vivienne shrugged.

"If you are, then it's normal," Eliza explained.

"But then the memory is a little messed, isn't it? No offence," Rachelle added. "I mean, in real life, you obviously wouldn't see a complete lookalike, right?"

"Yeah, so maybe part of it has recovered, and part of it is still unrecovered, causing her brain to finish the dream using its imagination!" Eliza concluded.

"Umm… I still like the message thing better," Kristina said in the strange silence that followed.

"Ya, we all know you do," Naomi said, rolling her eyes.

"Shaddup," Kristina giggled.

"Well then! Case closed."Rachelle stood and brushed off invisible rocks off her butt.

"Hey! I still have a story to tell!" Kristina complained.

"Look at the time, dummy," Naomi said. "Class is gonna start soon."

Kristina harrumphed, and grumbled to herself as everyone else got up and stretched.

I should say thanks, Vivienne thought. It would be rude not to. But she strangely felt queasy when she opened her mouth to talk, like snakes have replaced her bones and were wriggling beneath her skin.

_Just say thank you. It's not a big deal._

Ignoring the want of cowering in a dark corner somewhere, Vivienne opened her mouth… and the bell rang.

A little relieved, she followed her friends as they walked to their lockers, not really listening to their small chatter. She frowned, unsure of her emotions.

Why does it feel so weird, just to say thank you? She thought.

As she was pondering her sudden change of wanting to show emotions, she didn't notice someone studying her from far away.

**Please review? I know I'm a bad person for always not updating… but please? Pleaaaassseeeeeeeee? Imma try to update sooner but this week is actually really, really busy. But look! Ahoy! The summer's coming which means… MORE TIME TO UPDATE! And also my 1 year anniversary of being a writer. 8)**


	12. Thoughts

**New Chapter~~ Lalaa~~**

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 12:**** Thoughts**

Vivienne's P.O.V

Taking her lookalike's directions, once she got home, Vivienne ran upstairs to look for the note in her swimming bag. Sure, it was retarded, but why not? Plus, she wanted to keep it; if it was inside any longer, her mom might find it and throw it away.

Finally, she found the note nestled in between two folds of her hair towel. Heart pumping in excitement, she slowly unfolded the note. Turning the page in a circle, she read everything and looked at every picture there. She frowned. There was nothing out-of-the ordinary or even remotely interesting. Mentally rolling her eyes at her hopes, she threw everything back into her swim bag and dropped the note onto her messy desk. She lied back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her thoughts began to run everywhere, starting from Darrion's disappearance, to her life, and finally to her friends.

They're all so nice, she thought. So awfully nice… except for Will. But does he even count as a friend?

Her thoughts turned to the new guy, the mysterious stranger to whom she felt strangely attracted to. It was actually really weird – they've hardly spoken to each other kindly, but yet, she found it hard to remember the times when his intimidating presence wasn't there. How was life before he arrived? She'd asked herself that question countless times.

Then of course, there's that fact that he's incredibly good-looking. But that's something she'd blocked out since they'd become enemies.

Or so she thought.

His smoldering eyes were something she'd never forget in her life, and his kissable lips… She rolled onto her side and silently admonished herself for thinking these thoughts. They were enemies. Nothing more. She glared at the desk, looking at the sad piece of lined paper crumpled there. She should throw it out… clean the room too, cause it was getting on her nerves. Maybe later she will –

Ehh?

Vivienne squinted at the piece of paper from her position. Well what the hell. It seemed like she missed the fricken back of the page. She stood up and through her head rush, blindly reached for the note. She didn't mind the paining pressure – she was used to it. Slowly, the silvery dancing dots faded and she could see the piece of paper she held between her hands. As if squishing her excitement, she slowly flipped the piece of paper to the back. She cocked her head as she saw four lines that were written in _her_ writing.

_His eyes burn like the flames of Hell_

_The fire will freeze with the Obligatorio Spell._

_She who spins the tale of hate_

_Will be the one to seal the fate._

Oh yay, a poem_._ She hated poems, except for the dark, metaphoric poems she wrote and read online. A poem usually meant thinking, or some sort of inferring, and she was too lazy to do that. Not that she was stupid – she got 90s in English. She just thought that it was too much work.

But don't you want to know? A voice whispered in her mind, dark and velvety.

Vivienne looked at the piece of paper suspiciously. It seems interesting, but… she shook her head. What _was_ the point of it? Is her life really that boring, really that dull, that she wanted this "message from her dream" to come true?

Wake up time, she yelled to herself. Let's not play children's games. Drop the note and leave.

Vivienne moved forward to the trash can and paused. She felt oddly uncomfortable depositing the note into the bucket. Let go, she commanded herself. She did, with some difficulty. The paper fluttered to the top of the bucket. It had twirled around in the air and somehow landed on the side of her doodles. She swore that the doodle of the elephant in the middle looked sympathetically at her, and the monkey beside it looked accusing. Throwing a glare at the accusing monkey, she marched out the room defiantly.

Naps always happened at around four-ish, because of her lack of sleep. So naturally, as the clock ticked its way to 4: 35, her eyes lids drooped as she started writing the second paragraph for her history essay. The feeling of sleep was deliciously comforting, and she craved it so much that she resisted a bit, just so the feeling can keep persuading her until she finally gave in, and the world turned peaceful.

_I'm cold. So cold. _

_ Like my whole body is encased in ice. I am unable to move – frozen, like those bugs in amber. It numbs, it licks fire over my body. The pain… the __pain_. _Unable to scream, unable to move away from the cold, unable to shrink away – _

_ Then why not embrace it?_

_ The cold. The pain. The numbness. _

_ It… soothes me. _

_ I'm cold. So cold._

_ It feels good._

She woke up coughing, her stomach weak from her dream. Now that she woke up, she found herself shivering and coughing like it was the end of the world. She stumbled to the bathroom, pulling open a drawer that was filled with drinks. She took a bottle of water, still coughing and shakily opened it. Taking a gulp, she almost finished it, but choked on a little of the remaining water. Coughing two times as much, she took a smaller sip. Luckily, she didn't choke on it this time. But she kept on coughing and coughing. They brought her to her knees as small silver dots spun and flashed in front of her eyes. She then started to realize that they were getting more constant, and she couldn't stop them. However, her head wasn't fuzzy, and she could think. Why wasn't her mom coming to help her, or even ask about her? She knew it was impossible _not_ to hear the sounds. Maybe she should go downstairs to ask… but she'll probably fall flat on her face if she went down the stairs. Finally, the coughs gradually slowed, and as she pushed herself up and looked at the mirror, she found her eyes were red and bloodshot. Shaking her head, she turned her back on the reflection and stumbled back to her room. Screw her mom. If she wanted to ignore her daughter's pain, then she'll ignore hers. It was as simple as that.

Then she heard footsteps going up the stairs. Vivienne's mouth twisted –a combination of a grin and a grimace. So _now_ she comes. She sat back expectantly and stared out the window. The door opened, and her mom strode in. She looked around, and then laid her eyes on her daughter.

"You haven't changed yet? We're eating dinner soon, so hurry up! And clean your room! Look how messy it is!" With that, her mom strode out, not even asking if she was okay from the coughing.

"I had a coughing fit," Vivienne quickly told her, trying not to have any emotion evident in her voice.

Her mom turned around, just outside her room. "I know." She shut the door.

Hurt, anger and hate clouded Vivienne's mind, and she tried not to trash every room on the top floor. If she did, her mom will have to clean everything up… which was brilliant, in this situation.

_Watch your back, woman,_ Vivienne thought hatefully as her mother's footsteps faded away. _If something happens to you… let's just say I won't hear anything._

Unknown Person's P.O.V

"Hey man. Wanna hang out after school?" Keith's voice buzzed through the phone in my ear.

I kept my eyes on him as I answered Keith. "Dunno. Where?"

"The pizza place near here."

I was only half concentrating on Keith's invitation; most of my senses were tracked on _him._ Every movement, every twitch of a muscle, I watched him, ready if he decided to do anything.

"Who's going?"

"Oh… everyone, man. 'Cept the chicks."

I looked away from him for a while. If everyone was going… did that mean him as well? It would be a perfect opportunity to get to know him, so to speak.

"Seriously everyone?"

Keith paused. "Well except for Will and Mike. Mike's sick and Will, well, you know."

"Hold on, another call," I lied. So he wasn't going. That's fine as well. I paused, pretending to talk to someone. Putting Keith back on, I formed a perfect excuse to get me out.

"Sorry man. My mom needs me to help with boxes and stuff." I tried to sound regretful.

"Aww… come on. Can't you help mommy later?" He mocked.

"Fuck off."

I hung up on Keith and went back to watching him.

When the last bell rang, I knew I had to hurry. His kind's the fast type, and I didn't want to lose him. In the back of my mind, I knew that I could always track him if it came to that, but it was only for desperate measures. To me, it was too annoying to be stuck in half – my brain in one form and my body in another.

As I raced to the front doors, I caught sight of smooth brown hair that just turned the corner. Smiling despite my focus, I changed course and quickly caught up to her.

My soulmate.

I turned her around and chuckled at her startled expression.

"Stop laughing," she complained, pouting.

"Sorry." I grinned.

"Are we going to get my math test now?" she asked me.

I stared at her, not knowing what she was talking about. But that was normal… for me anyway. "No. I just came here to tell you that I can't stay with you today."

Her face fell, but she tried to cover it up.

"Sorry," I said apologetically. I was almost ready to change my plans because of her disappointment… but that's when I remembered that her protection was my top priority. Hers and her friends'. So I had no choice.

"I have to help my mom clean up stuff."

I really hated lying to her.

She sighed. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

I smiled. "Yeah, why not dummy?"

She whacked me playfully. "That's good. And bring me extra food," she added happily.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah…" I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. I pulled away after a few seconds, seeing the dazzled look on her face that never fades, no matter how many times I kissed her before.

"Sorry again," I whispered before kissing her again. Then I remembered I had to go. "I'll see you tomorrow," I called over my shoulder as I walked away.

His figure was almost disappearing into the woods when I burst out the back doors. Seeing that no one was watching, I ran as fast as I can, so in a few seconds, I was just beyond his hearing. I growled under my breath as I heard him sucking and drinking. I also heard a small heartbeat speed up before dying down.

My eyes flashed. How dare he hunt from my territory? They were _my_ animals, and _my_ forest. Trying to keep my head, I realized that my suspicions were confirmed by those sounds… which is a good thing.

I was now 100% sure of what he was, and that meant trouble. My lips curled in disgust as I remembered his kind's danger. They're always looking for a new prey, a new play-thing… and when they catch sight of something they want, they almost always get it.

That's when a previous suspicion floated up in my head again. A memory that left me reeling from shock. I recalled sitting in English, a few rows behind him, watching him, when he suddenly lost interest of what Mr. Gyld was saying and turned his head to a diagonal right. I followed his gaze, and found myself looking at my little sister figure. Not my soulmate – she always sits beside me. But her – she was like the little sister that my parents didn't want. She was, of course, captivated by the teacher's jokes – she loved English. But _him._ He was watching her, like I was watching him, in that same intensity. I didn't know _why_ he was watching her with that unreadable face; all I knew was that she was in trouble. It was always best not to catch their kind's attention if they wanted to live or not suffer from brain damage.

Suddenly, I heard a twig crack from behind me. It wasn't him; I could still hear him walking that way.

Someone was following _me._

Fuck.

Coraa Misora's P.O.V

"Coraa! Over here!"

"Coraa! Coraa! Here!"

"Ms. Misora! Can you look this way please?"

"Coraa!"

Coraa ignored the reporters' shouts as she walked to the building, sliding on her oversized sunglasses. Not that she was heartless – no, she was still at the stage of being overwhelmed by her fame. But before Ramane left, her manager told her strictly to not look at any reporters until she entered the building. And just to make sure, she'd even told a story about someone being trampled on or something.

She tried not to sigh as she thought about Ramane. She wished her manager was right beside her in this mess. But apparently she had to go to a meeting with the company, so for the eighth time, she sent someone else. She peeked beside her at the tall, lean sixteen-year-ish-old guy who was protecting her with just his glares. Coraa almost smiled – she had met him earlier, and he was very nice and had a great sense of humour. Apparently he was Korean, and his name was Choi Seung Hyun or something. She searched inside her head to look for the Korean information stored inside. They relied heavily on respect, so the most important thing was to be polite. So since he was older and in the work environment… she should call him Choi Sajangnim… right? But he wasn't _that _much other than her… Oh, whatever.

But Ramane… it was her tenth meeting in a week, and she usually only had one or two meetings per month. Her heart suddenly dropped. What if… they decided to kick her out of the company? It was too soon for that to be happening… she only just released her first album! She calmed down when she realized that they wouldn't drop her, since she was making money, big time. Then what about Ramane herself? Is she getting yelled at or something, for not doing a good job? Was she in trouble? But Ramane didn't seem to look anxious or anything the last time she saw her.

As if reading her thoughts, the reporters turned to a new issue. "Coraa! Coraa! Where's your manager?"

They peered past the security guards' bodies.

"Yeah! Did she retire? Is she sick? Where is she?"

"She retired, didn't she? She hasn't been with you since last month!"

"Maybe she got _fired_!"

There was a collection of gasps. Coraa tried not to flinch. Her part-time manager glanced at her and put a hand around her shoulders, leaning down. "Ignore them. Ramane's fine."

Coraa nodded in thanks, trusting this stranger. She then firmly closed off her hearing, making the reporters' shouts sound like one big wave of noise. At last, they arrived at the door which had two security guards guarding it. They nodded at Choi Sajangnim, opened the door and formed a wall on either side with their body. Coraa stepped in without a glance behind her and followed him closely to the hair and makeup room.

"Good job with the interview," Choi Sajangnim said on the way back to SJ Entertainment. "You answered the questions about Ramane-ssi pretty well."

Coraa smiled at him and bowed her head. "Thank you."

She slid off her sunglasses and put her hood up. The interview had been intense at the end – all the reporters had started to wonder why Ramane wasn't present, and they kept asking questions about it. Even the host couldn't stop them. The problem about the questions was that even _she_ didn't know anything about it, so she couldn't lie or anything.

"Don't worry about her, Coraa," Choi Sajangnim said, seeing her worried face. "She's probably fine."

Coraa turned to look at him. He sounded like he knew something about the meetings. "Choi Sajangnim… do you happen to know what's going on?"

His concerned face flickered with knowledge that quickly disappeared. "I don't think you should be worrying about her," he cautiously said.

"And I should worry about myself?" Coraa cut in, despite how rude it was.

He didn't seem to care. "No, no, no…" He looked away for a second. "I don't think it's about what you think it is…" He chose his words carefully. Coraa looked at him, confused. He sighed. "It may be more personal than you think," he finally said.

"Oh."

Choi Sajangnim sat back and sighed again. "I think I might've already said too much… can you make sure that Ramane-ssi doesn't know what I told you?"

Coraa nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Don't worry about that. I'll keep it a secret." She smiled at his back.

When they got back to SJ Entertainment to drop her off, Choi Sajangnim got out of the car along with her to say goodbye. He grabbed her shopping bags and they walked together in a companionable silence to the main doors.

"Choi Sajangnim… thank you." She bowed to him respectfully in front of the doors.

He bowed as well. "No problem. It was a pleasure working with you, Coraa… and I expect you to win all the Grammys soon." His face relaxed as he smiled. "Please send Ramane-ssi my regards as well," he added as he handed her the bags.

Coraa laughed. "Thank you. It was great working with you too. Maybe we'll see each other soon." She bowed deeper and waited until he went back inside the car and drove away.

With his warm blessing still in her ears, she turned and went through the sliding doors. It was cool and bright inside, with the white interior reflecting all the small lights on the ceilings and walls. In the foyer, there was a white wall in the middle, with two small lights shining on a sign that boasted SJ Entertainment's logo. Coraa tried to hide a smile. She was still obsessing over the fact that she now actually had a place inside the company… as an active artist, too! It was unbelievable.

Her high heels clacked on the white marble floor as she walked past the wall and deeper into the company's office. A big, circular receptionist desk was placed in the middle and seats were lined up in front of walls. The chirpy young receptionist who was currently there looked up, and smiled the moment she saw Coraa's figure approaching her.

"Welcome back, Coraa!" She greeted. "How was the interview?"

Coraa smiled at her. "It was fine, thank you." She shifted the bags so that they rested on the crook of her arm. "Um… can you tell me where Ramane is?"

The receptionist rolled her chair over to the closest computer and began typing. After a while, she finally answered, "She's in a meeting right now at Meeting Room 425." The girl tapped her nails against the table as she scrolled down to check the information. "It _should_ be over now… why don't you go up and see if she's available?" Her gaze then shifted to the bags. "Would you like someone to help you with those?" She pushed herself up and got out of the circular desk.

Coraa looked down at them. "No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. And thank you."

The girl briskly strode to the misty doors that Coraa was about to go through and opened it, smiling.

"Thank you." Coraa nodded to the receptionist.

"No problem. Remember: Meeting Room 425." The girl smiled and let the door close.

Coraa transferred the bags to her other arm as she pressed the up button of the elevator. They were getting strangely heavier by the second. She kept moving them back and forth until the elevator dinged and the glassy door opened. She stepped inside and giving up, dropped the bags on the floor beside her.

By the time she found Meeting Room 409, she was sore. Her feet ached from the high heels, her eyes weren't quite used the bright lights yet, and her arms were heavy boulders. Coraa rolled her eyes and went to find an empty room first. She was lucky – the Meeting Room 418 was empty. She placed her bags in the corner and slid off her high heels. From one of the bags, she took out a pair of converse and put them on, feeling comfortable at last. Then she set off, looking for Ramane.

As she neared Meeting Room 425, she could hear fierce murmurs and whispers. Coraa kept quiet and crept just outside the door, which was opened a crack. Thinking that the meeting was still going on, she kept quiet and listened.

"...don't think you can manipulate me into doing this!" It was Ramane's voice. Coraa tried to keep her breathing quiet and prayed that no one would walk pass her.

"Listen, just because I formed an alliance with you, it doesn't mean that I'm your slave! I'm not looking for this girl _for_ you!"

When Ramane paused, Coraa stiffened. The meeting _was_ over. Ramane was talking on her cell. Still, Coraa felt the need to listen and not to barge in.

"_I am not taking orders from you, Jayden!_ If you need this girl for you 'plans' then find her yourself." Ramane paused. "I don't _care_ how powerful she is, or what good she would do on our side! I'm not one of your small… _minions_," Ramane spat. Then her voice lowered so much that Coraa had to lean farther in. "If you really say that she's the reincarnation of Morgan Le Fay, and holds the same amount power as that witch, then I won't be strong enough anyway." She paused again before her voice turned mocking. "But I'm just a small, weak, pathetic, _useless_ vampire hunter. What more can I do?"

Coraa immediately pulled back. That was stupid. Ramane was probably talking about a video game or something.

But she doesn't play video games, a voice in her head whispered.

Whatever.

Anyways, there was no point in listening in. It wasn't about her or Ramane's future in the industry. Coraa rolled her eyes and went back to Meeting Room 418 to pick up her bags and put on her high heels. That way, she could formally announce her arrival when she went back to Meeting Room 425, and Ramane could have enough time to wrap up her retarded conversation.

But by the time she slid on her heels and clacked down the hallway to the room, she found that the lights were turned off, the door was open, and the room was empty.

**How's your summer? It should be better than mine. xP I spend most of my time planning out the next chapters. ^^ Review please? **


	13. Phone Calls

**Blubleblah. ^o^**

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 13: Phone Calls**

Unknown Person's P.O.V

I quickly hid behind a tree, feeling pissed at myself. How could've I missed the scent, or even the previous sounds? Shame coloured my feelings and my head bowed as I glared at the floor. I was not good enough to be a werewolf – I couldn't even feel the signs of pursuit. I growled under my breath and watched silently for my follower to pass by. But the person didn't appear. The longer I waited, the longer I felt impatience bubble up inside me. _He_ was getting away. I calmed myself down for a few more moments, waiting for this thing to emerge from the shadows.

Finally, I snapped and flew out from my hiding spot. Screw the follower. I'll just have to deal with it when it catches up to me. Sniffing the air, I followed his scent deeper into the woods. Suddenly, I felt cool air rush beside me. Snapping my head that way, I bared my teeth at whatever was there. A warning growl slipped from between my teeth as my emerald eyes scanned the space in front of me for anyone, or anything. But of course, there was nothing.

Snarling in disgust, I sniffed the air for the new intruder. Hmmm… it smelled familiar. But before I could turn around or kick, a cold blade was stuck at my throat. I immediately growled and griped the hand that held the blade. It instantly pressed deeper to my neck and I felt a familiar yet unfamiliar chill that spread from the skin that was touched by the blade.

The knife was silver – fatal to a werewolf – fatal to me.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…

I stilled instantly, but felt a growl rumble inside me nevertheless. I was held at a disadvantage – in the weaker position. I could only wait until I had a chance to attack or get away. But it didn't mean that I couldn't talk.

"Who are you? What do you want? What the fucking hell are you?" I growled in one breath.

"You're in no position to be asking _me_ this question," my attacker said, his voice smooth with amusement.

I stiffened in shock. I knew that voice… and no wonder the scent was familiar.

"_Alex?" _My attack instincts turned off immediately. I felt at ease, knowing that it was someone I knew. Well… at least he was human.

He must've felt it as well, so he removed the knife from my neck and let me turn to face him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Wassuppp Tommy Boyyyyy~~~!" He smiled so that he looked younger, greeting me as if he didn't just hold a knife at my neck.

I gave him a weird look, still slightly suspicious. "You know about…?"

He nodded, his smile fading just so it played around his lips. "Hey, can we talk somewhere else?" He glanced around. "I'm not a werewolf so I'd prefer a McDonald's than the woods."

I smirked, my suspicions dropped. It was definitely Alex.

"Let's go."

* * *

When we had a plate of fries in the middle and two drinks, we got straight down to business.

I cracked my neck and grabbed a fry. "How do you know? Why do you know? When did you know?"

Alex looked at me, mouth open and a fry ready to enter his mouth. "Why me first? Why can't I ask _you_ why you were following Will?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's not the most important thing right now. The most important thing is why a _human_ knows about us."

Alex took a sip from his drink. "Alright. So." He looked at me seriously and pushed away the fries, hands folded on the table, body leaning forward. "Do you know about the fight between the NCD and the rest of the Night World?"

I raised an eyebrow. "The NCD?"

"The New Circle Daybreak." He sighed. "So you don't know?"

I shook my head slightly.

"Okay." He took a long sip from his drink before starting. "So here's what's happening – the NCD wants to reveal themselves to the humans. They want to forgive and forget about the Burning Times."

I leaned forward, interested.

"But a lot of the Night World – mostly witches and vampires – really hate humans, and they're not ready to forget, maybe never. So they're striking against us, in many ways." He ran his hand through his hair. "Like Darrion's case – we're suspecting that they're trying to terrorize the humans as well as give _us_ a warning that they're not okay with this. So normally, the vampires would erase the family members' memory, or even kill them off. But now, more and more cases are starting to appear when the bodies are carelessly disposed of and the relatives' memories are remaining. There are more and more bodies like that, and the humans are starting to panic."

I gulped some more of my drink, nodding to myself. This was important news; I needed to listen to it carefully before I told my family.

"And most of the witches who joined their side are dark ones. Midnight witches. So they use their craft to manipulate everything – even the elements… like the earthquake at Haiti. That was them. Our agents confirmed it last week."

I looked up at him. "They have enough power? They shouldn't be that strong."

Alex nodded. "It's because it's dark magic. We don't know much about it, so we're not sure of the extent of its power."

I leaned back. "And you relate to this, how?"

Alex shushed me. "I'm getting to that part. So you see: they'd do anything to keep the Night World a secret – they're ruthless. They'd even destroy us. So they keep hunting for powerful creatures to be on their side."

"Dragons?" I murmured. I've heard of those creatures. They were the ultimate destroyers.

"No, no… those guys are long gone." He glanced around. "So here's the thing – you know Aradia? The Crone?"

I waved a fry at him to keep him continuing.

"So before her visions were gone, she had one where she witnessed something that's never happened before… almost as big as the Apocalypse."

"And?"

"Have you heard of Morgan Le Fay?" Alex's voice started to get lower and lower.

"Uh… yeah. The evil bitch from the Arthurian legends." I shrugged. "So?"

"Apparently Aradia witnessed her rebirth. Her reincarnation into this life," Alex whispered spookily, dipping a fry into ketchup.

I sucked in a breath. "_Fuck._ But witches don't reincarnate!"

Alex nodded, his eyes wide. "_I know._ But luckily Old Souls don't remember their past lives until their memories are triggered, so she's not evil or anything right now. But _still_. This is the _first time_ a witch has reincarnated… and the _first time_ Morgan Le Fey reincarnated! You know how powerful she is right?"

I felt myself tense. I've read about some of those legends. She was non-stop evil; selfish… she wanted everything in the world. _And_ she was part-faerie… which made her even morepowerful than the common witch. Along with that, Morgan Le Fey was dark… she spun dark magic, and from what I've heard, dark magic requires you to pay a price – most likely your soul and blood – but it'll let you have anything you want once you've paid enough.

"So a few months ago, a day after we found out about the vision, we found a spy in our team from the other side. Apparently the spy told their leader what happened, and they want her on their side so they can win easily." Alex shuddered. "It would be really, _really_ bad if she's on their side _with_ the awakened memories. The evil_ …_ the _power_ … We're basically dead from then. She'll manage to spin dark spells so that the whole world is under her control. No one can stand up to her. And her old memories would only guide her so she won't repeat her mistakes."

I cocked my head at him. "You still haven't gotten to the point. Where are _you_ in this?"

Alex allowed a small smile to play on his face. "Where am I? Well. I'm a specialized NDC agent whose sole job is to protect Morgan Le Fey's reincarnate from herself and from us."

I snorted. "You?" I ran my eyes over his profile and started laughing. "But you're just a human."

He raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"You're weak," I said bluntly, carelessly shoving 5 fries in my mouth at the same time.

Suddenly, I felt a cold wind past my cheek. Before I knew it, the silver dagger he'd used on me was vibrating next to my ear. I growled at him; a low rumble; and pulled it out, recklessly throwing at his face. He quickly dodged it, allowing the knife to wedge itself into the wooden seat and grinned.

"Not bad." He pulled it out quickly before stowing it back into his bag, so when a guy came to check on the noise, we just looked more or less innocent.

"You're not bad either." I smirked. "But don't fucking pull that stunt on me again."

He grinned. "Deal."

"So who's the Morgan Le Fey reincarnate?" I asked.

Alex suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I don't think I'm allowed to tell…"

I looked away, thinking. "What if I say that I'm on NCD's side, and I'm willing to do whatever fucking thing to protect this person?"

He smiled. "That would be great! I've never gotten a partner before… but I'll have to ask first. Then we'll let you know." Then his expression changed. "So after you know about me… how about you?"

"Hmm?" I paused in mid-slurp.

Alex leaned forward curiously. "Why were you following Will?"

I jerked back and looked away. "I was following him to protect us."

"Protect? Us?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shouldn't you know from your 'training' of how to distinguish a human from a vampire from a witch from a shapeshifter from a werewolf?"

Alex nodded slowly yet confusedly. "Yeah… but what do you mean?"

"Will's a vampire," I stated with hatred. "And you know about vampires." I narrowed my eyes. "They're nasty creatures. Unreliable, thirsty, bloodsucking leeches."

"Hey!" Alex looked mildly offended. "Not all of them."

I widened my eyes. "Are you fucking serious? They're _bastards._ They think they're all so _fucking _smart and so _fucking _genius that they don't _fucking care–"_

"Okay!" Alex rolled his eyes. "So who exactly were you protecting?"

"The usual… Eliza, Vivienne… our people."

Alex's head snapped up to look at me, eyes flashing. "Why? Did he harm her in any way?"  
I cocked my head at him. "Who?"

"Did he harm her in any way?"

"Who?"

_"Did he harm her in any way?"_

"_Who the fuck is 'her'?"_

Alex's inner fire faded. "Oh… sorry. I meant 'them'."

"Ah." I glanced at him but let it pass. "Well… Eliza's my soulmate, so I _have_ to protect her –"

"_What?"_

I gave him a weird look. "Eliza is my soulmate."

"Does she know?" Alex grinned.

"No."

He looked at me, mildly confused. "Why?"

"I don't want her to know yet. Moving on …" I rested my elbows on the table. "Eliza is my soulmate so I _have_ to protect her, Vivienne – well I see her as a little sister, so she's like family, and Rachelle's really nice, Penelope's really funny, Naomi's probably the most mature one but still fun, and Kristina's a pain, but she's a friend. So they're all my friends, so I find it my responsibility to protect them."

Alex nodded. He looked slightly tense again. "So did Will harm them any of them, or suggest harming them in any way?" He asked casually.

I leaned forward. "Yeah…" I took a sip of my drink. "I don't know if it's just me, but I sometimes see Will looking and Vivienne weirdly. Like he watches her like…" I waved my hand around unconsciously. "Like… I don't know. Just this really intense look," I summed up brokenly.

Alex looked away. His whole body seemed ridged. "Well that sucks."

I looked at him, confused. "What sucks?"

Alex's whole body seemed to sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "Nothing sucks," he finally said brightly, turning towards me. "Nothing sucks," he repeated.

I watched him, playing with the straw of my drink.

Okay then.

* * *

Vivienne's P.O.V

Vivienne hurriedly unlocked the door and kicked off her wet flips flops once inside. She just got back from a swim practice, and her feet were still wet – something she immensely disliked.

"I'm home," she sang as she swung her bag over her shoulder, preparing the excruciating journey up the flight of 5 stairs.

Unusually, her mom didn't yell back for her to wash her suit, or even help set the table. She couldn't hear her any noise in the kitchen, nor her father's footsteps walking up and down the stairs. But she heard sounds from the TV. Curious, she dropped her bag onto the wooden floor and padded to the kitchen.

"Mom?" She called, hoping her mother was making coffee quietly or something. No one was there. Vivienne then looked for her in the storage room, where she might be looking for ingredients. No one was there either.

"Mom?" She called again, hoping her mom was just deaf. The strange atmosphere made her feel uneasy. Maybe they went out, she thought doubtfully.

"Mom? Father?" She called as she walked to the living room – the source of the TV sounds. They usually waited for her there _after_ dinner was prepared.

"Father?" She asked hesitantly as she rounded the corner. With relief, she could hear murmurs that weren't part of the news program.

"Mom! Father!"

Then she saw her parents sitting opposite to each other – her mom on her usual loveseat sleeper and her dad on his usual single seater sofa. The TV was on, but they weren't watching, just talking quietly. When Vivienne entered, her mom gave her dad a glance, and he stopped talking, turning around.

"Uhh… what are you doing?" She asked uncertainly.

Her dad turned around to look at her mom and they exchanged a look. Vivienne went closer, careful of the odd atmosphere.

"How was swimming?" Her mom asked.

Well that was weird. Vivienne gave her a questioning look. Her mom typically didn't ask about her practices; she mostly didn't ask about her at all.

"Fine… why?" She looked at both of them, still wary.

Her mom glared at her dad before shooting a glance Vivienne's way. Her dad shook his head, almost imperceptibly, and jerked his chin at her mom.

"You guys are really…" Vivienne shivered and left her sentence unfinished. She turned around and took a step to go upstairs.

"Umm." Her mom's voice called her back.

Vivienne looked at her. "What's going on?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Her mom gave a last glance at her dad and she stood up. "I think you should see this." She bent down and picked up a pale envelope. When Vivienne held her hand out for it, her mom hesitated before placing it so that there was no skin-to-skin contact.

Vivienne felt her insides clench. "Okay," she muttered before grabbing it. Then she turned around and went upstairs without looking at it.

Once she was settled and such, Vivienne idly took the envelope and sat down on her bed. Sure, she was interested about the big deal with the envelope and stuff, but really, she was more pissed about how distant her parents have been becoming. After the coughing episode, they hardly talked and laughed with her; instead, they've been getting more and more demanding about her choices and mistakes and getting upset about how "useless" she's becoming.

Really, she hasn't found anything wrong with herself, or anything that's suggesting "failure". She's just been finding these weird nudges to do something… not exactly right. Like manipulating people until they all hate someone specifically, and talking back to everyone. But she's trying to ignore those nudges… sometimes.

_Anyways. _She sighed and turned back to the envelope. It was really pretty – the words were written in a flowing green script, and the envelope was beige-coloured. She brushed a finger over it lightly and felt the rough, expensive material. Wondering what all this was about, she turned it over and saw the flap of the envelope. In the same print, she read a return address to Mrs. Akio Ammon and Mr. Otis Ammon.

Instantly anxious for the news, she tried to calm down the fluttering inside her stomach and carefully pulled out a single card. It was made of the same beige, expensive paper as the envelope. She quickly read over what the card said, and read it again. The beautiful green script masked the grief it contained…

Announcing the fact that Darrion Ammon is dead.

Vivienne dropped the card and slowly crawled to the deepest corner of her bed. Sitting up with her knees tucked in, she pulled the thick covers over herself and looked out the window miserably. The sky was slowly turned dark, mixing the colours there, just like her emotions. Darrion was proven to be dead. She summoned up a dull chuckle inside herself. She guessed right… he was dead. Her brain and heart felt hollow… like all of its contents were emptied, leaving behind a fragile shell. She tried to find tears that she wanted to fall, but her eyes were dry. Vivienne chuckled lifelessly again. She felt so hollow… but why did she feel the pain of her friend's death inside her, all the same?

Why did she have to feel the pain…?

_

* * *

Beep._

Vivienne looked up from her book to the computer screen. A MSN box was flashing for her attention. It was an invitation to join Penelope and Kristina's conversation. She clicked OK and sat back dully.

_You got the invitation, right?_ Kristina asked.

Vivienne leaned forward slowly and typed back.

_Ya._ The card she'd received a week ago was also the invitation card.

_ It's Saturday morning. _Penelope said._ You going early?_

_I don't even know if I can go,_ Vivienne wrote unhappily. That was true – her mom had an appointment and her dad was at work already.

_Shit! Seriously?_ Kristina said.

_You HAVE to go._ Penelope added.

_Can any of you take me?_ Vivienne asked, hopeful.

They didn't respond for a while. Penelope was the first to answer.

_I don't think I can take you_, she said._ My aunt is taking me._

Then Kristina answered.

_I'm going with Rachelle like carpool. But there's not enough space._

Vivienne sighed._ Kk thanks._

_ Sorry._

_ It's okay._

After a silence, Kristina wrote something.

_So what are you guys wearing there?_

Vivienne could imagine herself and Penelope giving each other a look.

_Black._ Penelope answered.

_Ya._ Vivienne typed.

_You guys are so boring…_ Kristina typed._ Anyways! I think I'm going to wear the new black dress I got. Were you guys there when I got it?_

Yes. They were there when she got it.

_But then I don't want the adults to think I'm slutty… So should I wear the black pencil skirt with a black shirt?_

Vivienne went back to her reading and left Penelope to answer. Suddenly, about a million beeps came from the computer, forcing Vivienne to go back to the conversation. Penelope had written a simple "_whatever you want"_. She found herself smiling sadly. They were being their usual selves, which made her smile, but it was about Darrion's _funeral…_

_Vivienne! What about you?_ Kristina had typed. _You know what? I think I'll trust you more than Penelope._

_ Why? T_T _Penelope protested.

_Cause she's closer to my style than you are. Even though she's not my style. Actually, I should've gone to Naomi… but she's not answering her phone. The thing is in a day! _Kristina said.

_No._ Vivienne typed quickly. She did _not_ want Kristina to be droning on and on about her outfits. She'd rather do anything else.

_Whyyyy?_ _Please! _Kristina begged.

_:D_ Penelope wrote.

_Damn you PenTAlope._ Vivienne said. _And no cause I don't want to._

_ Damn you BeBeon. =)_ Penelope wrote back.

_Whyyy?_ Kristina whined again.

Slightly annoyed by Kristina's messages, Vivienne typed in her escape route.

_G2G eat dinner. Bye._

_Bye BeBeon._

_ Nooooo! Wait! I'll call you!_

Vivienne closed off the chatbox with a snort. Just cause Kristina called, it didn't mean she had to answer. She had caller ID. And then she went back to reading.

* * *

It was right before her _real_ dinner when Vivienne received Kristina's call.

"Hey _girl_," Kristina cooed.

"What?"

"Okay, I need you to help me choose an outfit," Kristina said, getting down to business.

Vivienne sighed. Dinner will just have to wait.

"Okay, so I've got the black dress I just bought at Forever 21… Omgshh it was _so_ cheap cause it was on sale. Fifteen bucks. And then there's the pencil skirt – you've probably seen me wear it before."

"Mmhmm." Vivienne was hardly listening – she was mostly writing on the computer.

"And then I have black dress pants also with the same black shirt. So should I wear the dress, the pencil skirt, or the dress pants?"

"Umm… the pants…" Vivienne said vaguely. She hardly heard anything.

"Really? But the pants are so… gross. It makes my thighs look fat."

"Then the… the… the dress."

"But doesn't it make me look like a slut? I mean I don't know…" Kristina trailed off.

"Then why are you asking me?" Vivienne snapped, momentarily distracted from her chapter. "You already know what you're wearing!"

Kristina giggled. "Sorry. So what's up?"

"I need to go practice piano," Vivienne said abruptly.

"Aww really?"

"Yeah."

"Later _girl_," Kristina cooed again. "Oh, I might call you again."

"Mmm," Vivienne muttered before hanging up. And then she went to go eat dinner.

* * *

The phone rang a second time when she was just settling down to write more, comfortably curled up in between her covers.

"Phone!" Her mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"Who is it?" She yelled back.

"It says Keung B.P!"

Kristina. "Let it ring!" Vivienne yelled, and got down to writing the special scene she'd saved up.

But before long, the phone rang a third time. She didn't even get far – just up to the second paragraph. The ringtone blasted right next to her and she felt irritable and unhappy. It destroyed the mood that existed inside her head, completely.

"It's Keung B.P. again!" Her mom yelled.

"Let it ring!" Vivienne bellowed, pissed at the whole world. Now how was she supposed to write this scene? She threw down the notebook and pen and jammed her head underneath a pillow.

Slowly, the fire inside her dimmed and she got tired and fell asleep like that. The whole world turned pretty, with fluffy white clouds, a clear, soft blue sky that doesn't hurt your eyes, and it was so comfortable, because it was just at the right temperature – the normal, warm kind –

And then the fricken phone rang for the fourth time.

Vivienne resisted the urge to throw the phone across the phone and pressed the mute button. The room fell silent. She sighed and curled into a ball, not bothering to change out of her dirty clothes. And then she fell asleep.

* * *

It was the sound of a phone ringing that woke up Vivienne.

With the annoying memories of the phone calls in her mind, she sat up blearily. The aggravating tune seemed to ring on forever. Almost roaring with frustration, she pressed talk.

"What?"

"Vivienne?" It was Penelope. "Have you heard from Kristina since she talked to us on MSN yesterday?"

"_Yesterday_…?" Vivienne looked reached out to the thick drapes covering her windows. When she pulled a corner out, a bright flash of light attacked her eyes.

"Ow. Yeah… she called me last night like five thousand times… why?" Vivienne asked, still groggy and blind in one eye.

"Rachelle said she wanted to call her to confirm the time and stuff and she said that Kristina didn't answer. She called four times – yesterday twice and this morning twice. And Kristina _never_ not answers her phone, even if she's going pee or something," Penelope added.

Vivienne let out a sleepy chuckle. "I know… but after the first call, I… didn't… answer… the rest of them…" She trailed off, half embarrassed.

"You're so mean!"

"Well don't tell me you don't either!"

"So?"

"So maybe I should check my cell phone," Vivienne said, changing topics. "Maybe she left a text or something there."

"Okay. Call me if you find anything. And text me if you don't."

"Mean," Vivienne slowly snapped, still half asleep.

"Bye, you foo."

"Bye."

Vivienne hung up and collapsed on the bed. She was so tired… Suddenly, she sat up, wide awake. What time was it? She quickly glanced at the clock – 1:10 pm. She has school today! Why didn't her mom wake her up? She went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face to wake herself up before padding downstairs to take a look.

"Mom?" She called.

When she went to the kitchen, she found nothing there, except for a note on the table. Vivienne picked it up and read:

_V,_

_I'm out shopping. The school called today and you guys _

_get a day of rest before the funeral._

_Call me if you need anything. _

_If you're hungry, you know where to find the food._

_Mom._

Oh. Okay then. Vivienne shrugged and went to the living room to get her Blackberry from the charger. Bringing it upstairs with her, she settled underneath the covers again and checked for anything from Kristina. Actually, she didn't really find anything wrong with Kristina missing the calls. Sure, she _always_ answered, but a few slipups didn't count right?

She scrolled to her messages first to look for any from Kristina. Finding nothing new, she went to her missed calls and stared down at it in surprise. There were thirteen in total… and seven of those were from Kristina. Looking for the details, she found that they were based on almost three minute intervals… except for the first two. Wow… was there something really that important? Vivienne rolled her eyes. It was just an _outfit _for a _funeral._

Darrion's funeral…

Oh _crap_. She didn't have a ride to his fricken funeral.

Last night, she'd thought that she could ask around at _school_ for a ride, but… well… that plan was destroyed. Vivienne's eyes turned back to her phone. Hey, maybe she can text them instead. Maybe they'll answer. She sent out a SOS text to people who are suitable to ask favours from and dropped the phone next to her. Sighing at her sucky planning and the sucky day tomorrow, she collapsed onto the bed and closed her eyes.

* * *

Her mom shook her awake, holding out the phone. Vivienne drowsily put the phone to her ear and closed her eyes.

"Hmmmmm?"

"Hey Vivienne. It's Alex." His smooth, warm voice filled her ears.

Vivienne's eyes popped open. She propped herself up to a half sitting, half lying down position. "Hi. Uh… what's up?"

"I got your text about the ride thing."

Oh, right! Vivienne quickly fished out her cell from the covers with one hand and checked her inbox. Scrolling down, she saw that many of them said that she should've asked beforehand, that they were carpooling with someone else. "Yeah… what about it?"

"We've got a seat open if you want," Alex said.

Vivienne hesitated. "Who's 'we'?"

Alex laughed. "It's just me and my brother. You don't have to worry."

Vivienne cocked her head. At least Keith and Mike and them weren't there. "Yeah… It would be really great if you – woah!" She looked down at her phone's screen.

"What's up?" Alex asked, sounding worried.

"Nothing…" She continued to stare at the new text box that just popped up. With a confused voice, she continued. "Will just asked me if I wanted him to give me a ride."

She reread it again. Sure enough, it was Will's number, and it asked her what she read before. But they were enemies! Why is he being so nice? Wait, why is he even texting her? After all, they weren't really close.

"Really?"

Vivienne looked at the phone. Alex sounded… weird. It wasn't the usual warm tone he used with her.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked tentatively.

She heard Alex sigh. "I know this is going to sound weird," he continued in that odd voice. "But I think Will is… a bad kind of person. Not the type we should um… communicate with, you know?"

Vivienne had nothing to say. "Well… uhh… okay…?"

"I mean, just don't be too… close… with him," Alex said hesitantly.

Vivienne felt a little amused with this new side of him. She laughed. "Okay Alex. I won't be too close with him."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we'll pick you up half an hour before the time it says on the card," Alex said, sounding mildly relieved.

"Okay. And thank you Alex," Vivienne said, comforted by his support.

"No prob. See you tomorrow."

"Bye!"

"Bye."

Vivienne hung up, feeling grateful. Then she spotted Will's text message again, and she picked up the phone. Why was he being so nice? She thought again. Mixed up emotions stirred inside her, so many that she couldn't differentiate them. Finally, she looked at the screen and sighed, before replying a very firm "no thank you".

Her phone then started to vibrate in her hand, telling her that Penelope was calling. Vivienne pressed talk and put the phone to her ear.

"What's up?"

"Did you find anything about Kristina?" Penelope asked. Her voice was rather nervous.

"Yeah… she called my phone like seven times. No texts, though. Why the hurry?"

"Me and Rachelle tried calling her a lot since this morning," Penelope answered. "But she never answered. So far, it's been over 12 hours when she's been missing her calls." Penelope paused. "Do you think anything happened to her?"

"_No_," Vivienne snapped. "Have you called her home phone? Her cell might be charging or something."

"Yeah. We tried. It didn't work."

Vivienne closed her eyes. "I'll try calling, too. And I'll check my phone again."

"Kay. Call me or Rachelle if you find anything."

"Wait," Vivienne said quickly. "Do her parents know?"

"They're at Shanghai, remember?"

Vivienne grinned. "Oh right."

"Call me if you find anything," Penelope repeated.

"Kay. Bye."

"Bye."

As she said before, she checked all her texts and missed calls and recorded the times down, sending them to Penelope's phone. She sounded actually really worried, and it wasn't like her. Is Kristina really… missing? Her chest tightened. Her disappearance really sounded familiar… like Darrion's. Would Kristina have the same fate as…Darrion? Vivienne sighed. His funeral wasn't even over, and a second case appeared.

Suddenly, she sat up straight, looking at her cell. She forgot to check her voicemail to see if Kristina had left anything there. She called the number and punched in the password quickly, hoping to get this over fast. She should've called Kristina before, too, like Penelope and Rachelle. Whatever.

_You have two new messages,_ the woman's voice said._ First message._

There were sounds of kept in sobs. _"Vivienne?"_ It was Kristina's voice. She sounded like she was about to cry. _"I… I found out about something. I remembered what happened! And if he knows that I know, he's going to kill me! I'm scared, Vivienne. I don't know what's going to happen to me! Vivienne… pick up the phone!"_ She was almost genuinely crying. _"Where __are__ you? Oh my god he's going to kill me. I don't want to die! I. Don't. Want. To. Die! Vivienne! Can you come over when you hear this? I don't want to be alone. I'm scared he's going to come and get me. Please come. Please, Vivienne! He's going to find out about what I know and he's going to come! Please!"_ The voicemail then ended with her choking sobs.

_To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine,_ the computerized voice said.

Vivienne was too shaken and scared to press anything. She was frozen, staring at nothing in horror. Kristina sounded so scared… she was even _crying._ Kristina never cried. And she was talking about him killing her? Suddenly, ice froze her heart and she felt chills up her spine. The last time she'd seen Darrion, he'd been saying the same thing – that he'd found out about something and he was going to die. It sounded like this was more like his case than anything. Finally, after the woman repeated her directions, Vivienne managed to press 9 to save.

_Next message._

It was Kristina again. _"Vivienne." _She was gasping as if she were running and her voice still sounded like she was crying. _"He found out already. And now he's going to come and get me. I'm taking money and some stuff and running away."_ A sob caught in her throat. _"I'm going to go on a bus and stop somewhere. I'll try to stop at your house. If I don't, I'll go to some shop and hide out there. You have to wait for me." _She started sobbing uncontrollably. _"He's going to get me… he's going to fucking get me… Vivienne! Why aren't you picking up?"_ There were sounds like running footsteps. _"Vivienne! He's close… I can feel it. Oh my god. I really don't want to fucking die! I'm too young to die… Please. Pick up the phone!" _Her cries got louder. _"Why did I have to remember? I don't want to… I shouldn't have remembered!" _She suddenly gasped, and Vivienne's heart stopped. But she continued to talk after._ "Vivienne, I need to tell you… if I don't live… I have to warn you. Listen to me. He's going to come after you after he kills me. You have to be careful. Shit, I can't even say his name out loud."_ She started hyperventilating._ "I'm so sorry. But I'm scared that once I say his name, he'll appear right in front of me. I'm so sorry I can't tell you who…"_ Kristina's sobs made Vivienne cringe. They were so full of fear._ "Oh my god… I can feel it. He's really close now. But I'm ready to go out… Fuck… You know what? I'm not even going to –"_ The sentence got cut off with a high-pitched scream that was filled with nothing but terror. It was the type of scream that someone lets out when they are faced with unimaginable horror, and they could do nothing but face it.

The scream went on for forever and ever until the message ended, with a sound of the phone dropping to the floor.

_To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine,_ the computerized voice said again, sounding strangely delighted.

**Alright, just so this is clear, Unknown Person is now revealed by dear Alex that it is Tom. And also, this is the longest chapter I've written so far. o_o Woot. Reviews? ^^**


	14. Guilt

**See you at the bottom!**

_**Previously…**_

_You have two new messages, the woman's voice said. First message._

_ There were sounds of kept in sobs. "Vivienne?" It was Kristina's voice. She sounded like she was about to cry. "I… I found out about something. I remembered what happened! And if he knows that I know, he's going to kill me! I'm scared, Vivienne. I don't know what's going to happen to me! Vivienne… pick up the phone!" She was almost genuinely crying. "Where __are__ you? Oh my god he's going to kill me. I don't want to die! I. Don't. Want. To. Die! Vivienne! Can you come over when you hear this? I don't want to be alone. I'm scared he's going to come and get me. Please come. Please, Vivienne! He's going to find out about what I know and he's going to come! Please!" The voicemail then ended with her choking sobs._

_ To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine,__ the computerized voice said._

_ Vivienne was too shaken and scared to press anything. She was frozen, staring at nothing in horror. Kristina sounded so scared… she was even __crying.__ Kristina never cried. And she was talking about him killing her? Suddenly, ice froze her heart and she felt chills up her spine. The last time she'd seen Darrion, he'd been saying the same thing – that he'd found out about something and he was going to die. It sounded like this was more like his case than anything. Finally, after the woman repeated her directions, Vivienne managed to press 9 to save._

_ Next message._

_ It was Kristina again. __"Vivienne." __She was gasping as if she were running and her voice still sounded like she was crying. __"He found out already. And now he's going to come and get me. I'm taking money and some stuff and running away."__ A sob caught in her throat. __"I'm going to go on a bus and stop somewhere. I'll try to stop at your house. If I don't, I'll go to some shop and hide out there. You have to wait for me." __She started sobbing uncontrollably. __"He's going to get me… he's going to fucking get me… Vivienne! Why aren't you picking up?"__ There were sounds like running footsteps. __"Vivienne! He's close… I can feel it. Oh my god. I really don't want to fucking die! I'm too young to die… Please. Pick up the phone!" __Her cries got louder. __"Why did I have to remember? I don't want to… I shouldn't have remembered!" __She suddenly gasped, and Vivienne's heart stopped. But she continued to talk after.__ "Vivienne, I need to tell you… if I don't live… I have to warn you. Listen to me. He's going to come after you after he kills me. You have to be careful. Shit, I can't even say his name out loud."__ She started hyperventilating.__ "I'm so sorry. But I'm scared that once I say his name, he'll appear right in front of me. I'm so sorry I can't tell you who…"__ Kristina's sobs made Vivienne cringe. They were so full of fear.__ "Oh my god… I can feel it. He's really close now. But I'm ready to go out… Fuck… You know what? I'm not even going to –"__ The sentence got cut off with a high-pitched scream that was filled with nothing but terror. It was the type of scream that someone lets out when they are faced with unimaginable horror, and they could do nothing but face it._

_ The scream went on for forever and ever until the message ended, with a sound of the phone dropping to the floor._

_ To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine,__ the computerized voice said again, sounding strangely delighted._

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 14: Guilt. Enter Jeremy.**

Vivienne's P.O.V

The phone slipped from Vivienne's fingers, landing on the bed beside her.

Kristina is dead.

And it's all her fault.

It was after dinner and she replayed the messages again. Vivienne lay onto her back, staring at the ceiling with an almost faraway look. If she didn't ignore Kristina's calls, then she could've been saved. She would be able to wear that black pencil skirt or whatever to the funeral and gush over how she should've worn the slutty dress after all.

If Vivienne didn't ignore her calls, Kristina could've gotten a ride to her house and stayed there. She could've been safe from whoever the guy is. Anything could've happened – anything that didn't result in her death. But now… her chest squeezed and she sucked in a big breath. Yet again, she searched for the tears she wanted to well up in her eyes, but she came at a loss. Where were they hiding? She needed them to release all the pressure … and the guilt inside her.

Vivienne rolled to her side, clutching her stomach. She closed her eyes and squeezed them tight, trying to cry. Yet no tears came. Her heart threatened to rip open in agony and never heal up again. But that was okay, of course. If it stopped beating, then she wouldn't have to face to pain of losing… losing two friends in three days. And she won't have to deal with her own problems anymore…

Sure, they weren't really the closest and best friends she got, but it made her realize how much she relied on them to be there. Now that they were gone, there were two gaps in herself, and there was nothing to fill it up again. As the shock of the new death faded, Vivienne was coloured with worry. So far, the killer has taken two of her friends' lives. With another death happen to _another_ one of her friends? The thought of Penelope, Rachelle, Eliza, Tom, or Alex dying made her sick. Hell, even if Will or Keith died it would make her feel uncomfortable.

Gradually, she was touched with a crawling fear. In the second message she's gotten, Kristina said that the killer would come after her after she died. And now that Kristina's dead… when will he come to kill her? Vivienne shivered. Kristina was probably too messed up to think right. Her "warning" probably didn't mean anything.

Vivienne was suddenly hit with her own stupidity and she sat up. She should try calling Kristina herself. As she shakily pressed the numbers, she prayed to God that Kristina would pick up. Pick up…pickup… pickuppickuppickup…_pick up… _But she was left with a personalized voice message in Kristina's bright girly voice. Unsatisfied, she called Kristina a few more times. Vivienne groaned as she was greeted with the same message and flopped back onto her pillows. Was Kristina really dead? And was she really killed by that mysterious guy who she was afraid of?

Oh, and another thought – why didn't Kristina call the police if she was so scared? Why only Vivienne? After all, they can give better protection than her. The responsibility Kristina dumped on her… Wait. What was she thinking? _She_ should call the police right _now._ Vivienne picked up her cell phone but her fingers started punching in Penelope's number instead.

"Hello?"

"Pentalope!" Vivienne was surprised to hear her voice shaking, still after all this time. "I have stuff from Kristina."

"Ugh. Finally. Where has she been?"

Vivienne paused. "It's not that," she said quietly. "I found some voice messages on my cell. I think I should call the police."

Penelope kept silent for a while. "What are you saying?"

"I think she's dead," Vivienne said almost inaudibly.

Penelope laughed unexpectedly. "No, really. Where has she been?"

"_No._ I really think she's dead," Vivienne repeated unhappily.

"Oh, so she's still not picking up?" Penelope asked.

"Yeah, cause she sort of _can't_," Vivienne said, frustrated.

"Oh, so you _do_ know where she is." Penelope sounded accusing.

"I told you before – She. Got. Killed," Vivienne snapped.

"Stop saying that," Penelope snapped back immediately.

"It's _true._"

"It's only okay the first few times you say that," Penelope lectured. "After that, it becomes mean."

Vivienne wanted to slap her. "Fine. If you don't believe me, then first let me prove it to you," she said angrily.

"How?"

"Come to my place. Call Rachelle and see if she can come over too. I'll call Naomi… Eliza probably can't come since she's so far away."

Vivienne was surprised at her split-second planning. And after they listen to the message, they can all decide to call the police.

"It's too late though… I don't think _anyone_ can go to your house," Penelope said doubtfully.

"Tell them all that we think Kristina might be dead or missing, and that I have evidence," Vivienne exploded. "Maybe they'll take you here then."

"Alright," Penelope warily said. "Bye."

After Vivienne hung up, she immediately dialed Naomi's number.

"Hello?"

"Naomi?"

"Vivienne?"

"Yeah. Umm… can you come over right now?" Vivienne asked quickly.

"Are you crazy? What time is it?"

"Really. It's Kristina. We think she's missing."

"Haha. Okay. Byebye," Naomi said, like all the other times she'd prank called her.

"No! I'm not joking," Vivienne cut in. She didn't want Naomi to hang up. "It's real. I have evidence and we might call the police."

Naomi paused. "I'll ask," she said, as doubtful as Penelope.

Vivienne heard the sound of a phone being dropped gently onto a table and the sound of Naomi's missing presence. After a while, she came back, breathless.

"My mom wants to talk to you."

"_What?"_ Vivienne freaked.

"Hello?" It was Naomi's mom.

"Hello Auntie," she said uncomfortably, taking on her Hong Kong speech.

"So Naomi says you think something happened to Kristina?" She said, getting right to the point.

"Yes. We found her missing this morning. She wouldn't answer her phone and no one opened the door for Rachelle when she rang," Vivienne said rapidly. "Just now, I checked my voicemail and I found a message that umm… suggests the possibility of Kristina missing or dying."

Naomi's mom listened without interrupting. "We'll be there," she said briskly, and then hung up.

When Vivienne pressed the end button, she realized she was starting to get _really _scared. So scared that she was shaking and the room was closing in on her. Like she was back to being a three year old and she was scared of the monsters outside.

Her cell then buzzed in her hand.

"Penelope?"

"Yeah. I'm coming over. So is Rachelle. Uh… we'll be there in ten minutes?"

"Okay." To her own ears, she sounded weak and pathetic.

"Is Naomi coming?"

"Yeah. She'll be here in twenty minutes."

Penelope paused. "Your parents know, right?"

"Umm… yeah." She'll tell them later.

"That's good." Penelope only knew the good side of her parents – the warm, friendly side. "This better be real, Vivienne." Realizing what she said, she quickly revised her words. "I mean let's hope that nothing's wrong and Kristina's at home sleeping."

"Yeah."

"See you soon. Bye."

With the dead phone in her hand, she knew she had to face her parents soon or later. Standing up slowly, she stretched and went downstairs. She heard that the TV was on and they were talking again. When she entered the room, both of them looked up and then continued talking.

"Mom?"

Her mom looked up at her and stopped talking. "Yes?"

"Me, Penelope and Rachelle think something's wrong with Kristina." She had to start out slow, or else they'll just be like her friends – unbelieving.

"How?" Her mom asked, leaning back.

"We think she's missing or dead," Vivienne said, wincing at the word, 'dead'.

Her mom looked unconvinced. "Okay…"

"No, really!" Vivienne sat on the floor and explained the whole story to her parents. They started skeptical, but slowly turned believing. "And now they're coming here to listen to the message," she concluded.

Her dad put down the newspaper he was holding. "Why didn't you come to us in the first place?"

Vivienne shrugged, uncommitted. For some reason, she was unwilling to open up to them. She felt cold; frozen.

Her mom sighed. "What's done is done. Have you called the police?" She asked, anxious.

"Not yet," Vivienne said. "I wanted us to listen to the message first."

They paused and thought. "Are you sure?" Her dad asked. "When will they be here?"

"Naomi's going to be here in about twenty minutes and Rachelle and Penelope are going to be here in ten minutes."

They fell silent for a moment. It was her mom that broke the silence.

"Don't be scared, V. It's going to be okay." She looked at Vivienne with comfort.

Was it more like pity? Vivienne internally snorted with contempt. She didn't like being pitied. She made a sound of acknowledgment and then went upstairs to wait for her friends alone.

* * *

_Ding Dong._

Penelope was the first to arrive exactly ten minutes later. She ran upstairs with Vivienne to her room while her parents stayed over, saying that they wanted to help in any way possible.

"We went over to Kristina's house and rang her doorbell, but no one answered," Penelope stated.

_Ding Dong._

Rachelle was the second to arrive, almost five minutes after Penelope. Like Penelope's parents, her parents went to the living room to stabilize the growing fear and nervousness.

"My mom suggested that we should go over to Kristina's to check if she answered at home, but no one opened the door," Rachelle said.

_Ding Dong._

Naomi was the last to arrive, but surprisingly quickly. Her parents stayed as well, and followed Vivienne closely to the living room, where all the adults were talking.

As Vivienne went upstairs to get the other two girls, she felt a little reassured from the amount of people who were there to deal with the messages, and perhaps the police later on. With her cell phone clutched in her hand, all four girls went into the living room. Vivienne mentally reeled back from the unusual amount of people in the room. It made her a little scared… but a stage fright kind of scared. The parents all smiled, trying to comfort them silently.

Vivienne's stomach suddenly dropped. She didn't have to host this, does she? But it sort of did make sense… considering it was her who called this "meeting" together. But there were so many people…

They made their way to the front of the room and folded themselves on the floor. Vivienne saw Penelope and Naomi exchange a look and she peeked at Penelope. She was looking at the floor.

"Say something," she muttered to Penelope.

Penelope looked up and shot a look at her. "Why?"

"Cause." She jerked her head at the audience.

Penelope rolled her eyes and started talking. "So… you guys know why we're here, right?"

The parents nodded. Rachelle's mom said, "Because you girls think Kristina is missing?"

Uncomfortably, Vivienne spoke up. "Actually, I think something happened to her." She spoke more to her friends than the intimidating adults. "When Penelope called me and said that Kristina seemed to be missing, I checked my phone. And I found these two voice messages. They seem to… um… prove that something really bad happened to her."

"And we're here because we need to hear those messages." Rachelle gave Vivienne a significant look.

Understanding, Vivienne dialed her voice mailbox, punched in the password and put the phone on speaker. With shaking hands, she put the phone in the middle of the room, on the glass table.

_You have two saved messages_, the computerized voice said. _First message._

Vivienne shivered visibly. The woman's voice was no different from when she last heard it – robotic and eerily delighted.

The first sad message started playing and she was struck with a sense of déjà vu – the same horror as she was before. But being the one who had heard the messages already, she directed her attention to every else's expressions. However there was no need – they all looked like how she did – horrified, creeped out, and worried. Then the message ended.

_To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine. _The woman's voice sounded like she was gleefully anticipating for the more horrible message.

Vivienne went up and pressed nine to save.

_Next message_, the voice sang.

Unable to listen to the second message again, she went out the room while everyone stared at the phone with the same frozen faces. She went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water to still her shaking fingers and gulped from it slowly. Her fingers tapped the countertop as she drank the last drop.

When she calmly went back to the living room, she was just in time to hear the piercing scream that restarted the fear in her heart. She saw that everyone looked stunned and filled with alarm.

_To erase the message, press seven. To reply to the message, press eight. To save it, press nine._

Vivienne was almost certain that she heard the machine cackle. She went up to her phone, and again, pressed nine to save the message before hanging up. As she went back to her spot with her friends, she noticed that the atmosphere was stuffy and it was frozen; unmoving.

After a few moments of silence, Rachelle's mom finally stood up and broke the mood.

"We have to call the police," she said. "Where's the phone?" She looked around the room for the home phone.

Vivienne stood up and grabbed it. And then she stood there, uncertain of what to do. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to call 911. But… she shrugged helplessly. She didn't want to be the one to do it, and answer to them.

"What are you doing?" Naomi asked, almost harshly. "Call them!"

"I…" Vivienne looked at her friends' faces.

"You know what?" Naomi held her hand out. "I'll do it."

Vivienne gladly handed he phone to her, thankful that the responsibility was taken off of her.

"I'm sorry," Penelope's mom cut in politely. "But shouldn't Vivienne do it? Since she _is_ the one that received the messages."

"Yeah… that's true," the parents agreed.

Naomi handed the phone back to Vivienne, but she looked at it helplessly.

"What am I supposed to say?" She asked nervously.

"We'll tell you," Rachelle said. "Don't worry. Plus, it's not like you've got anything to hide, right?"

Vivienne nodded at typed in the forbidden "911". She'd never done so before, since she was a good girl, and she was taught not to.

"Do I put it on speaker?" She asked briskly. Her mind was set on acting mature and responsible, since all this was supposed to be done by her.

"Yes. Then we can listen it," Naomi's dad said.

Vivienne pressed the speaker button and held her breath. She sort of hoped that no one would pick up, but right in the middle of the second ring, a business-like male voice answered.

"911 emergency response. What is your emergency?"

Vivienne cleared her throat. "I think my missing friend is dead," she said as clear as she can.

Unlike the people she'd told earlier, the emergency operator didn't think it was a joke. "What is her name?"

"Kristina Keung," she responded immediately.

"What causes you to believe that she is missing, and dead?"

Vivienne hesitated and looked up at the faces staring at her. Naomi immediately took a random piece of paper and pencil and scribbled down something before holding it up for her to see. _Just say that you and your friends have been trying to call her and have been ringing her doorbell but she never answered. And then just now, you got 2 voice messages from her, and she says things that make you think that she's dead._

Vivienne quickly read through her instructions and adjusted the words. "Me and my friends have been trying to contact her this morning and last night but she never answered. And then just this morning, I received 2 voice messages from her, and the things she said may have suggested her death."

"I see," he said, sounding strangely thoughtful. "Is there anyone around you who needs medical attention?"

"No… they're all fine." Vivienne glanced around at everyone.

"Are you in a safe place?"

This was probably a procedure, wasn't it? "Yes. I'm at home," she said easily.

"Is there anyone with you? If so, who?"

"I'm with my friends and their parents, and _my_ parents." She purposely put her parents at the last place, seeing if they would notice.

But probably not.

The man's voice turned kind. "What's your name?"

"Vivienne Wu," she answered instantly.

"And how old are you, Vivienne?"

"I'm 14." She cocked her head at Rachelle as if to say, 'Is this necessary?'

Rachelle gave her a small smile and nodded.

"Are you afraid?" He asked warmly.

Her friends and family couldn't help her with this one. "No," she answered positively. She studied the phone as if it were really alive, and talking to her. "I think I'm alright."

"That's good. It's always good to not be a mess with these cases," She heard him mutter, probably to himself. "The police are coming, so if any of your friends are afraid, tell them not to worry," he said louder.

Vivienne raised her eyebrows at the four girls sitting around her. "Uh… okay."

They smiled slightly back.

"So you're going to high school next year, right?" He asked after a slight pause.

"Uh… yes," Vivienne answered, bewildered. Why did he need to know this?

"Are you ready for it?"

"I guess so."

"Come on, I need longer answers than that!" He teased.

Vivienne almost laughed. "Umm… not to be rude, but why do you need to know this?"

Penelope poked her arm. Vivienne looked up to see her giving her mild look of disapproval.

"Well," he said good-heartedly. "It's best if you don't hang up until the police arrive."

"Oh."

"So what high school are you going to?" He asked contentedly.

"St. Richard's."

And it continued like that.

* * *

"They're here," Vivienne's father said, opening the door that separated the room and the hallway. Her parents were at the other side of the house, looking out the window to wait for the police.

The operator heard. "Can you let me talk to the police first?" He asked.

"Uhh… okay?" Vivienne answered, handing the phone to her dad.

_Ding Dong._

She saw in the cracked opening of the living room door her father opening the door with her mom behind him. The middle-aged policeman who stepped through had dark hair and a slightly creased face.

"You called the police?" He asked. His voice was familiarly deep and rich.

Her father nodded and held up the phone to him, probably telling him the operator wanted him. The policeman lifted the phone to his ear and went outside, talking quietly. As Vivienne heard her parents and him walking towards their room, she nudged Penelope and Rachelle.

"Did you see?" She whispered, almost excitedly.

"What?" Rachelle whispered back.

"It's Officer Cable!" She said happily. It was better to have a guy who she knew question her, instead of some stranger.

"Who?" Naomi asked. She was the only one, aside from Eliza and Kristina, who didn't meet him.

"He was the guy who questioned us about Darrion," Penelope whispered to her.

"Oh."

The footsteps got louder until the door finally opened to reveal Officer Cable in his glory. Behind him was another policeman, this guy in his twenties, probably, and then there were her parents. Both of them surveyed the room severely. Like last time, no one said anything in an awkward silence.

Her mom came up and gestured to an empty sofa. "Please sit," she said politely.

"Thank you," the twenty year old guy said. The two of them sat, and her parents did as well.

"Alright." Officer Cable rubbed his hands together and leaned forward. "My name is Cable Burke, and you can call me Officer Cable."

"My name is Ryan Daniels," the other officer said. "And you can call me Officer Daniels."

Huh, Vivienne thought amusedly. The Daniels guy likes to be called by his last name.

"So who is the one who received the voice messages?" Officer Cable asked.

Vivienne spoke softly. "Me." She saw Officer Daniels take a notepad and a pencil out from his front breast pocket.

"And your name is?" He asked.

"Vivienne Wu," she replied, wondering if she should tell him that they've met before. Whatever.

"He looked over at her parents. "Is there a separate room where we can, uh, ask our questions?"

Vivienne glanced at them to see her mom look at her dad.

"Absolutely." Her father stood up and led the way to the dining room, where there was a door that blocked all the sounds from the outside.

The officers settled down and Vivienne sat timidly on the opposite side. Before leaving, her dad gave her a squeeze on her shoulder. Vivienne looked up.

"It's going to be alright," he said in a low voice.

Vivienne nodded, with the new warmth of support in her. She watched her father close the door. He isn't _that_ bad, she thought. He doesn't act really cold, actually. Was she overreacting?

"So what happened?" Officer Cable asked, snapping Vivienne's attention back at him. He looked over at Officer Daniels' notepad. "To Kristina, am I right?"

"Yeah," she answered. "So do I tell you the whole story?" She asked hesitantly.

"Tell us as much as you know," he said, with a hint of warmth. He took out the same voice recorder as before and placed it on the table, pressing the on button so that a light turned red.

Vivienne squeezed her hands harshly as she began the story. "So just yesterday, we, as in, Penelope, Kristina and I, were talking online about our friend's funeral." She looked at Officer Cable. "Darrion Ammon – you know him, right?"

He nodded, his eyes widening a little.

"So she kept on talking about what to wear, and it was really annoying, so I made an excuse to go off. After that, she called me… about…umm…" she squinted at the Guernica painting behind the policemen's heads. "She called me about four times? The first time, I picked up the phone and she starting talking about her outfit for the funeral, and I wasn't in the mood to talk about that, cause, you know, it's about a _funeral_, right?" She said, unintentionally asking them a question.

"Go on," Officer Cable said.

"So for the next three times she called, I ignored her calls," she said sheepishly. "I didn't want to hear about her pants that made her look fat, or the pencil skirt, or the slutty dress–" She defended, before realizing what she said. "Excuse me," she apologized.

Officer Cable and Officer Daniels had a small smile at their lips. "What happened after that?" Officer Cable asked.

"Then this morning, Penelope called me and said that they couldn't reach her, and asked me if I'd heard from her. So I told her about the calls… and then I sent her all the missed calls I got in my cell phone." She was suddenly very aware of the object in her pocket that was against her knee.

"Can we see your cell phone?" Office Daniels asked.

Vivienne nodded and handed it over to him. She silently watched as his fingers skillfully glided over the track pad. Officer Cable looked over his shoulder and nodded slowly. They seemed to have easily found the missed calls section. Finally, Officer Daniels looked up and gave her phone back.

"I have the same phone," he said casually. "It's very easy to use, isn't it?"

Vivienne nodded, _trying_ to look young and confused. She knew what he meant. He wanted to tell her that she couldn't hide anything that was on the phone from him, since he knows more or less, everything about it.

"So after you sent the messages, what happened?" Officer Cable asked, nudging her on with the story.

Vivienne fiddled with the phone under the table. "After that, Penelope called me again to ask what I've found, and _oh…_ _that_ was the time when I sent the missed calls times." She felt nervous that she messed up the story.

"Continue."

"Then I started thinking about her disappearance… and then I realized I'd forgotten to check my voice messages, so I did, and… I found them," she finished off quietly.

She saw the two Officers exchange a look.

"Can we listen… to them?" Officer Daniels asked.

Vivienne nodded and mentally sighed. She'll have to listen to it for the third time. Her fingers quickly pressed the number, password and the speaker button before she put the phone on the middle of the table.

_First message_, the evil voice crooned.

Vivienne watched their reactions as she tried to block out the sounds of Kristina crying. They both had times when they glanced at the other, and times when they looked almost pitiful. Soon, it was time to press 9.

"Can I get a glass of water?" She asked abruptly.

The two officers looked at each other.

"It would be best if you stayed," Officer Cable said.

Vivienne tried not to show her frustration. Whatever.

The message ended at an agonizingly slow time, and Vivienne pressed 9 and the end button quickly. She didn't want to hear the robot voice.

"So when did you receive this message again?" Officer Daniels asked.

"Uhh… this morning. At about 2 pm, I guess?" She answered uncertainly.

"And what time is it now?"

"About 9pm? I don't know." She checked her phone. It was 9:24. Good enough.

"Why did you wait 7 hours before calling the police?" Officer Daniels asked.

Vivienne gaped. Did he think she did something to Kristina or something? "Because I didn't know what to do…?" Her statement turned into a question accidently.

He nodded.

"So you gathered all your friends and their parents here because?" Officer Cable plowed on.

"Penelope wanted to know what other things I found, so I told her I thought Kristina was… uh… because I think something happened to her. But Penelope didn't believe me… so I forced her to come and tell Rachelle to come. I called Naomi personally… and their parents stayed because they were kind of… unbelieving." Vivienne suddenly thought of something. "And Penelope and Rachelle told me that they both rang Kristina's doorbell before arriving, cause they lived close to each other, but no one answered," she added.

Officer Cable nodded and crossed his arms. "Did Kristina call the police?"

Vivienne shrugged. "I don't think so."

"Why didn't Kristina call us?" He fired.

"I thought about that too," Vivienne sighed. "But I dunno."

"Have you ever thought that she might've just been prank calling you because you've been ignoring her calls?" He asked sternly.

Vivienne felt uncomfortable. "But I called her later and she wouldn't answer…" she trailed off. "And the messages sound very real," she snapped as she saw the look on the two policemen's faces.

"About Kristina…" Officer Cable said, ignoring her outburst. "She goes to the same school with you and your friends?"

"Yeah. We're in Grade 8 at Hawthorn Public School," she said, calmed down. The looks were gone as well.

"Where are her parents?" Officer Cable continued to question.

Vivienne pursed her lips. "Kristina told us that they went to Shanghai on a trip, leaving her and her sister here."

"Her sister?" Officer Daniels looked interested.

"Yeah. She's in University. Her name's Veronica." Vivienne hardly glanced at him.

"Do you know anyone who might've had an intention to hurt her?" Officer Cable asked.

Vivienne cocked her head. "Well, not a lot of people like her. She actually made a lot of 'enemies' because of her attitude. And she actually picked out individual people in different friend groups, and tried to smush them together." She smiled to herself. "That's how she got us together. Anyways… she was that kind of girl who thought she was very ugly and the kind to always look at guys… you know?"

Officer Cable nodded, with a small smile on his lips.

"Well at school, she was basically this girl who a lot of people disliked, or wanted nothing to do with her. And in the inside, she disliked a lot of people as well," Vivienne summarized.

She then saw the two exchange a look. Officer Cable then turned to her and nodded to her.

"Thank you for your information. Remember, if Kristina calls you again, please tell us," he said, with a tone of finality.

"Excuse me, but what are you going to do?" She asked politely.

"We'll most likely file a missing report," he answered easily. "Officer Daniels," He turned to him. "Can you…?" He glanced at Vivienne and trailed off.

Officer Daniels nodded, stood up and gestured to the door. Vivienne knew what he wanted, but she suddenly remembered something she'd thought before.

"Umm… before I go," she said, catching their attention. "Officer Cable, I know that you were in charge of Darrion's case as well, right?"

He nodded. "That's right."

"I just thought that these two cases are kind of… similar," Vivienne blurted. "Like how they go missing and end up…" she hesitated. "Dead." Officer Cable nodded. "And they're both my friends, and their umm… cases happened at a very close rate…" she trailed off. "I'm worried that my other friends would get hurt." She looked at him straight in the eye.

Officer Cable seemed to consider her thinking. "I thank you for your words… but _you_ should be careful," he said carefully. "In the message, she talked about this man coming after _you_."

Vivienne nodded and stood up to go out. But she paused as she touched the door handle. With the previous suspicions in her head, she turned around and looked at the two of them seriously.

"I hope you don't think this is a joke," she said, voice quiet.

Officer Cable smiled slightly, but seemed to understand that she was very serious. "We don't think disappearances and a possible death is a joke." He crossed his arms and leaned back.

Vivienne turned around with the same air, and put her hands in her baggy pockets, leading Officer Daniels back to the living room. She felt that the questioning had somehow drained her playfulness and put her as a more mature person. She sat beside her friends and gave a small reassuring smile to her friends.

"Can you come with me?" Officer Daniels asked Penelope.

Penelope stood up uncertainly and looked back at her parents. They waved her on encouragingly and she followed the Officer out the door.

The rest of the night was filled with the Officers' questions and a worried air.

* * *

The alarm clock ringed its aggravating sound, startling Vivienne from her tormenting sleep. Blurrily, she reached from under the warm covers and snapped the button to OFF. The silence released her from her consciousness and she quickly fell back asleep.

Before long, her cell phone sung her favourite Coraa Misora song, dragging her back. Vivienne patted the area around her blindly before finding the phone.

"Hmm?" She answered, too tired to answer properly.

"Vivienne?" The other person asked uncertainly.

Vivienne's eyes snapped open as she recognized the voice. She forced her brain to work in its foggy state. "Alex! What… what's up?"

"Are you awake yet?" He sounded amused.

"Of course," she said, unsuccessfully hiding a yawn.

"Liar. Anyways… we're almost at your house."

_Shit._ "Okay," she replied calmly while she bounced out from under her covers and started digging through her closet. ?

"So… get ready," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah." She was too busy to notice how uncomfortable he was.

"Bye."

"Bye." She hung up as soon as her ripped black skinny jeans were on.

Almost running to her bathroom, she pulled her hair into a messy bun to keep it out of the way. _Shiiiiit._ She was so screwed. They'll probably be here in a minute… she kept waiting for the fatal ding dong as she washed her face, brushed her teeth, combed her hair and dressed up for the funeral.

After she was all clean and stuff, she selected a random black shirt from the many in her closet and slid on a few black and silver rings. She tied her hair in the usual ponytail, and at the last minute, grabbed black fingerless elbow gloves. She slid them on, mentally hugging herself for putting on black nail polish a few days before.

Wait… why isn't Alex here yet? Vivienne thought as she looked out the window at the bleary sun. It seemed as though it was mourning for Darrion's death as well…

Ohgod. Kristina. She sat on her bed, staring outside. Last night's events filtered through her brain and she remembered how everyone, even the parents, had been affected. After everyone had been questioned, all her friends left shortly, hardly speaking. From the time when the message was heard out loud, Vivienne wasn't the only one who thought Kristina was… dead.

Visibly snapping her head the other way, she stuffed the memories behind a strong wall. Last night, it had been impossible to sleep, resulting in black circles under her eyes. After every thought she had, she knew it was her fault that Kristina was gone. If she listened to her messages earlier… if she hadn't ignored the calls… if she had more patience with Kristina's retarded babbling… If _only_…

Presently, she grabbed her phone and stuffed it in a butt pocket of her jeans, making sure it was on vibrate. She then looked around the room to see what she's missing. Spotting the invitation, she grabbed it, just in case, and wondered if she should've bought a card or present for the grieving family.

Too late for that.

Then she zoomed downstairs to pour herself a glass of milk. Weird… where is Alex? She pulled out her cell and checked the time. He said that he was almost there… what is taking him so long? Then Vivienne had a mini-heart attack. Did something happen to him? Was that why? Her mind instantly linked with Darrion and Kristina's case. She quickly dialed his number and clenched her phone when he didn't pick up. Wait, hold on. She quickly calmed herself down. Alex is with his brother, isn't he? If so, then he should have _some_ protection. So he's probably stuck in some traffic. That's all.

Vivienne nodded to herself, finished her glass of milk and rinsed it in her sink. Should she eat breakfast? Since Alex wasn't here yet. She opened up her fridge and saw nothing that was quick to eat. Hmm… a yogurt will do.

But just as she was reaching in for the yummy blueberry yogurt, the doorbell rang. Vivienne felt herself sigh in relief. She hadn't noticed that she was still worried about him. As if on autopilot, her body made her kick the fridge door shut, grab the house keys that were on the table, run downstairs, slide on her black converse, and open the door.

Alex was there, clad in black, hands in pockets, and looking a bit embarrassed. He looked the same, except for his new brown hair. Vivienne let out a surprised sound.

"What… what… happened to your hair?" She asked softly. His black and gold hair colour was gone, but his hairstyle was still the same.

He swung his bangs out of the way self-consciously. "I uhh… dyed it."

Vivienne smiled to herself. She could hear the hidden, 'Is it okay?' question linger in the air. "It looks good," she told him. And it did. The warm brown made him look as friendly as he was inside, and he looked… brighter. Like he reflected his personality to the outside.

Alex couldn't help himself from grinning in relief.

_ Vivienne herself smiled back as she stepped outside and locked the door. The grieving sun was cold; its shine wasn't as warm as it appeared to be. She led him down the stairs and stopped cold as she saw the car in front of her._

The car was sleek; the sun's rays reflecting from the black surface of it. Its lights shone red in the back and a strange silvery blue in the front. Its silver wheels sparkled, showing signs of a fresh wash.

"It's a BMW 760li," Alex said behind her. "It's nice, right?"

Vivienne deliberated what to say. "I… uh… don't know cars."

She could basically feel his exasperation as she continued walking. "Well it's a _very_ nice car," he grumbled.

Vivienne lightly stroked the shiny black door handle. "Okay?"

"_Girls_," Alex muttered. He opened the passenger side door and got in.

Vivienne rolled her eyes and opened her door, hearing its expensive muted clunk. Inside, the seats were as dark as its exterior; the leather a muted black. Everything was tidy and in place – though there wasn't anything that _could_ be put in place – and if she didn't know before, she would've been expecting the new car smell.

"How do you keep this so clean," she muttered to herself, thinking back at her own car, with its messy footprints everywhere.

"It's not me who cleans the car."

Vivienne slightly craned her head to look at the person after she buckled her seatbelt. He was leaned towards the open window, head propped on his head, so she couldn't really see his face. He seemed to be looking at her through the rearview mirror, and from what she could see; he has the same jaw line as Alex. His short, messy black hair differed from Alex's new brown fobby hair, and from the lazy hand that was slung over the steering wheel, she could see thin bands of muscle on his arms.

She felt shy all of a sudden, and could only mumble a small "oh."

"So… Vivienne, this is Jeremy," Alex said.

"Uh… hi." Vivienne was, once again, stuck in the familiar situation of having nothing to say in front of someone new. Brilliant. She should just hit herself in the head so she can pass out.

"Hey. So we're going now, right?" Jeremy asked good-naturedly.

Alex takes after his brother, Vivienne noted.

"Yeah." Alex then twisted so he was facing her, his brown bangs hanging in his face. "Uhh… Are you okay?" He asked.

Vivienne looked away from his face as she felt Kristina's disappearance fill her brain. The guilt immediately escaped the wall and started to beat her brain to pieces. She forced a smile.

"I'm not really uh… upset about Darrion's funeral," she said truthfully.

Alex waited a beat. "Is there something else?"

Vivienne kept her face blank. Should she tell him about Kristina? Since he was a friend… oh why not? Maybe he'd heard from her.

"Kristina's… been missing… since yesterday-yesterday," Vivienne told him slowly.

Alex blinked. "What?"

Vivienne didn't know how to further explain it. "Kristina's be-" she flicked a glance up. "Been missing since yesterday-yesterday."

Alex opened his mouth, but closed it slowly. "She's… she's missing?"

Vivienne nodded.

"Shit. Like… how Darrion's missing?" Alex asked, slowly absorbing the news.

Vivienne nodded again. "We called the police last night." The guilt overwhelmed her once again.

"You're worried about her, aren't you." Alex made it sound like a statement.

Vivienne just nodded again. "When was the last time you heard from her?"

Alex sighed and turned back to face the front. Vivienne felt hurt by that meaningless gesture. Which is ridiculous, since he might be checking his phone or something. But Alex was never cold to her…

Spoiled brat, she thought to herself.

And then Alex twisted to face her again. "I haven't heard from her since Thursday after school," he said. "She didn't text me or anything after." He then saw the wall on her face. "Don't worry about her… she probably went to China to join her parents." He smiled crookedly, trying to reassure her.

"I know she's dead," Vivienne said emptily, while guilt was overflowing her body.

Alex then opened and closed his mouth several times. But he knew to not say or ask anything. "I'm sorry," he finally said, and smiled reassuringly one more time before turning around.

Vivienne smirked wryly to herself. She knew he meant well. But it wasn't as if she could forget the way Kristina had sobbed and screamed in her voicemail.

Then she caught Jeremy shooting Alex a glance. Their eyes met and they seemed to be glaring at each other, or perhaps giving warning looks. She laid a fresh mask across her face as she curiously stared at them, and sat silently at the back.

* * *

"Hey guys!"

Vivienne and Alex turned around to see Keith walking up to them. They had arrived at the church, and it happened to sit at the top of a huge grassy hill. There wasn't a road for cars to go, only a wide flight of stairs that were decorated with gentle floral decorations. But those were already filled with people, so many decided to just hike up the hill itself.

Anyhow, Keith's hair was tousled messily by the wind and his eyes were glowing in excitement. Vivienne felt herself getting unnecessarily nervous as he approached them. She fiddled with her gloves as Alex led her to Keith to say hi.

"What's up, man?" Alex grinned and punched his shoulder lightly.

"Nothing much," Keith answered, chewing gym. He looked around. "The funeral's sick, isn't it?"

Vivienne and Alex looked at the far away pristine white church behind them and at the floral decorations everywhere.

"I guess so," Alex said.

Vivienne didn't say anything. It wasn't as if it was hard to keep her mouth shut.

"So Vivienne," Keith said, calling for her attention. Not that he didn't have it already.

"What?" She asked, trying to make her words as cold as the wind.

"What's up with you these days?" He smirked. "I haven't seen you in a long time."

That was true. She'd been avoiding him around school, absolutely creeped out by the way he was… _flirting_ with her. She shivered at the thought. It made her strangely disgusted, instead of making her feel delighted. After all, didn't she like him? If so, then why didn't she like it when he paid special attention to her?

_Maybe you don't _actually_ like him_, the voice of reason said in her head. _Plus, he's probably playing with you._

Vivienne thought for a second and searched her emotions. When she imagined her and Keith in a relationship, she felt strangely sickened. No… she didn't _really_ like him… she just wanted to 'top him', so to speak. Well that's a relief, Vivienne thought. Anyway, she wasn't even in the mood to think these things. The guilt of Kristina's disappearance – death – was too much. It overwhelmed her, and she was constantly struck by it, every few seconds of the day.

"I've been avoiding you," she said bluntly.

"You don't need to avoid me," Keith said. Suddenly he smirked. "Hey, I have to tell you something. Why don't you and I go to the Starbucks near here after the funeral to talk?" He asked casually. "You girls love it, don't you?"

Vivienne froze. What was he saying? Was he asking her out? At a _funeral_? When Darrion's not even under the ground, and Kristina's missing? "_What?_" She blurted automatically.

Keith's smirk didn't waver. He took that as some sort of "opportunity" and went closer to her.

"I said, after the funeral, do you want to talk at the Starbucks near here?" His eyes glinted. "I'll pay."

Thankfully, Alex cut it. "Dude. Are you asking her out?"

_Now_ Keith looked annoyed. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Vivienne felt pissed and revolted. "Yeah I have a problem with that," she snapped.

"What problem _would _you have_?_" Keith sneered. "You know you're going to say yes. Everyone knows what you think of me."

Embarrassed, she turned the new emotion into anger. "What problem do I have?" She hissed, each word biting.

"You can't ask people out at a _funeral_," she and Alex said at the same time.

"Dude, Darrion's memorial service hasn't even started. And you guys are best friends, man. Have you even thought of how… _morbid_ that is?" He continued alone.

Keith looked at the two of them, excitement gone. "Why not?" He drawled. "It's not like you guys actually liked Darrion when he was alive. It's not like _anyone_ actually liked _him_," he scoffed. "And you guys don't even look like you're mourning."

Vivienne felt like she wanted to punch him. A strange red haze went across her vision and her blood boiled. She felt so powerful that she could rip him to shreds. _Okay,_ she didn't like Darrion too much, but how can a person say something like that?

"You –" She couldn't find any words to describe how she was feeling. "I would _never _go out with you," she snarled.

After that, she grabbed Alex's arm and towed him away.

"When you change your mind, tell me," Keith called behind them arrogantly.

Vivienne barely heard him. She gradually slowed her striding to a walk and calmed herself down by imagining herself stepping on him. And stabbing him. A lot. Then she noticed that Alex was still beside her.

"Sorry about that." She glanced at her friend apologetically.

Alex laughed. "It's okay."

Vivienne allowed a small smile to touch her lips and she closed her eyes, breathing in the cold air. The red haze she'd had across her vision had faded somewhat. She tucked her hands into her pockets and sighed quietly.

"You're not mad anymore?" Alex asked curiously as he trudged beside her… closely, but not touching.

"I don't think so," she replied. That was true… she'd pushed all the bad feelings behind the familiar wall inside her head again. It was also the place that held the constantly escaping guilt of Kristina, the emptiness of her thoughts about life, and her displeasures with her parents… and now her anger.

"Mood swings," he muttered.

Vivienne looked at him and playfully slapped him. "_You_ have mood swings," she retorted, almost smiling.

Alex grinned.

They fell in a comfortable silence as they hiked up the hill that led to the church. Many people in black clothing were scattered around the grassy field and were like them – going to Darrion's funeral. Suddenly, she spotted a familiar cuddling couple ahead of them.

"Hey look. It's Tom and Eliza," she said to Alex.

"You wanna say hi?"

Vivienne nodded. Together, they quickly and silently approached them.

When they were at a close enough distance, she pounced on Eliza.

"Ack!" Eliza flung her arms out and narrowly avoided hitting Vivienne's face.

Tom smiled at them.

"Wussup guys?" Alex came up beside Vivienne and waved at the other two.

"Hello fair earthlings," Eliza said.

Vivienne had nothing to say. Suddenly, she spotted Keith and his "posse" in front of them. Rolling her eyes, she turned to Eliza. "Hey, you know what just happened?" She murmured, keeping her eyes on Keith's figure.

"What is going on, my darling?" Eliza asked.

Vivienne snorted. "Is she drunk?" She asked Tom.

"She's been like this since this morning," he replied, rolling his eyes.

Eliza laughed and held his hand.

"Okay." Vivienne looked away from their joined hands, secretly smiling. "So what happened was… Keith just asked me to have a cup of coffee with him."

"He _what_?" Eliza shrieked.

"He asked me to go to Starbucks with him after Darrion's funeral." She grimaced.

"My innocent child!" Eliza looked at her crazily. "You didn't agree to this madness, did you?"

"Hell no!"

Eliza nodded in approval. "That's terrific." She pondered on the topic. "But at a funeral? When Darrion was one of his best friends? And yours too? That's not very respectful for your feelings, is it, my child?"

"It isn't," Vivienne agreed. "Oh, and speaking of crazy things…" she thought of yesterday and linked her arm around Eliza's. "Yesterday, you know what happened?"

"What crazy thing happened to you, my darling?"

She looked around mysteriously. "Will texted me and asked if I wanted him to give me a ride," she said spookily, anticipating Eliza's reactions.

"Voldermort's nipples!" She shrieked at the same time Tom snapped his emerald eyes to Vivienne's face.

"He _what?_" The two yelled together.

Vivienne laughed, giddy because of the couple beside her.

"I didn't know you were into this stuff," Vivienne stated, looking at Tom with amused eyes.

His shock faded and he smirked. "Go on."

Vivienne followed his directions and turned to Eliza. "Okay… so yesterday, I didn't have a ride to the funeral, so I texted some people to see if they could take me." She suddenly thought of something. "Oh, and now that I think of it, it's weird, cause I never texted _him_ about it." She shrugged. "Yeah, so then I got his text then. _But!_ Alex called me before, so I could say no to him. Or else I would've had to say yes, cause no one else offered." She shuddered. Then she felt a strange thought came over her. Did she shiver in pleasure or disgust?

"Thank heavens," Eliza agreed.

Vivienen looked up to see Alex and Tom exchange a meaningful look. She quickly looked back down, feigning nonchalance. What did it mean? That look? She shook it off, even though he and Jeremy had just exchanged the same look before, and continued to climb the hill.

Thinking of yesterday, the guilt of Kristina escaped from the wall and she got hit in the gut. She realized she told most of her friends except Tom and Eliza. Her dull mood instantly dimmed furthermore.

"Guys… I have to tell you something else," she said seriously.

Her tone caught the attention of the two and Eliza "sobered up".

"Yeah?"

She put them to a stop, knowing that they still had time. "Yesterday, we found that Kristina is missing."

Eliza looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"We think she disappeared, like Darrion," Vivienne answered, wincing.

Eliza furrowed her brows. "You mean _exactly_ like Darrion?"

Vivienne hesitated. "She's been missing for a day, and she's not at the funeral, either. We called the police yesterday... They filed a missing report."

"We?"

"Rachelle, Penelope, me and Naomi," Vivienne answered. "We didn't call you because you guys were too far away."

The two nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry," Tom said. His emerald eyes contrasted with his eyeliner. "They'll find her soon."

Vivienne nodded silently, to close the subject. She wasn't worried about her – Kristina was probably already dead. Killed. The police just had to find the body. No, she was flooded with the guilt for not answering her calls. That was all.

Oh, and there's the fact that I might get killed too, she thought.

Alex, Vivienne, Tom and Eliza continued to walk to the church slowly. The silence they carried was damp and the playfully somber mood was destroyed.

_Now_, they were in mourning mode.

* * *

"That was so sad and sweet, right?" Rachelle asked as she, Penelope, Naomi, and Vivienne walked through the long grass behind the church. The service was over, and everyone – or at least the family members – had exploded in tears at one point. Now, all the people who cared about Darrion immensely were talking to the parents, and the rest of the guests were scattered amongst the church's properties.

"Yeah," Penelope answered when Naomi and Vivienne didn't.

They headed to the small forest that was behind the church and surrounded with light green deciduous trees. Apparently they weren't on a small hill; they were on some kind of mini plateau, so the forest covered the rest of the place.

Vivienne sighed quietly. It was all she could do these days, it seemed.

No one said anything as they entered the sheltered light of the leaves. There was only the odd crackle of stepping on twigs and the quiet breaths to break the silence. Then the rustle of branches as birds took flight and chirped.

"Have… have you guys heard from Kristina yet?" Penelope asked as she went around a tree blocking their path.

"No," Naomi replied quietly for everyone.

They fell into a brief and somber silence after that.

Vivienne felt the urge to ask them if they would believe her if she said that Kristina was probably dead. Since she was one of Kristina's closest friends, shouldn't she be more optimistic or something? So would it be… improper to ask? She shook her head. She should just keep her mouth shut like always.

As they walked ahead, deeper into the pathless forest, Vivienne felt her hands clench and unclench. Half-moons were imprinted on her palms as she suffered from a sense of fear. A trickle of cold sweat ran on her back, despite the blowing wind. But when she looked over at her other friends, she found that they were completely calm, only looking a tad more worried than normal. Vivienne tried to shake off the continuous sensations as they continued to walk without a sound. The beautiful and sad forest seemed to grow taller and monstrous; the leaves turning black and ugly; the occasional gust of wind colder. Some trees seemed to creak and moan and the howling bursts of wind grew stronger and resembled the cries of a woman. Vivienne shivered and felt sick. She started to feel more and more scared of the forest and wanted to go out.

Don't be ridiculous, she chided herself. It's just your imagination.

But when she'd nearly tripped over a thick branch, she had enough.

"Guys?" She called shakily. The three turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Uhh…" She didn't know what to say. "Can we go back? I-I'm feeling cold," she lied weakly.

They didn't notice her lie.

"You should've worn something thicker," Naomi said.

"Sorry."

Her friends carefully went around a tree to go to her.

"Do you need my coat?" Rachelle asked.

Vivienne forced a smile. "No, it's okay. Let's go." She hugged herself and looked around at the menacing forest. Was it her, or was the tree above her slowly stretching its branches towards her?

Her friends went ahead of her, leaves crackling eerily loud under their feet. Each of them stepped over the thick branch she'd almost tripped over and proceeded to move forward slowly. They seemed to be detached from her – like they were an illusion, and she was actually alone.

As Vivienne felt somewhat reassured that they were going back, she neared the thick branch. Stupid thing, she thought. She sort of felt that she was leading her friends back into misery. It was that branch's fault, she thought. She kicked it, wanting it to roll across the leaves. But it didn't. She didn't even stub her toe.

Vivienne sucked in a breath and bit her lips to prevent herself from releasing a blood-curling shriek.

It _flopped around._ Like a fish on land.

She crept closer to look… to find that _it wasn't a branch_. She bit her lip again, hard enough to draw blood. No branch was _blue-white_, like the colour of an oxygen-starved creature. No branch had _nails_ that were _blue._ No branch had a _hand._ She felt fear grip her heart as she followed the arm. Her breaths came in shallow gasps and she felt colder than she was before. The freezing wind blew across her face, like a slap.

The arm led her to a tree, where the base was covered by a large clump of dry, cracked leaves. She lifted a shaking hand to brush apart the leaves that lay at the base of the tree… and touched something cold.

Vivienne let out a blood-curling shriek. She screamed on and on and on, and didn't even gasp for air. At the base of the trunk, was a face she knew for four years. From what was left, Kristina's face was the same oxygen-starved blue-white as her hand, but a little shriveled up. Her open eyes were wide and staring and bloodshot; pupils dilated, like she was scared. Her mouth was parted, like she was still screaming, but someone had cut the corners of her mouth deeply, so she looked like she was wearing a grotesque smile. Sort of like the joker in Batman. Streaks of brown at the cuts marked the blood that had flowed there once, looking like rotted skin. The worst of all, maggots, leeches and beetles were covered over many parts of the skin, wriggling and squirming as one. A particularly fat yellow one poked through her left eye, and she could see the layers of muscle that made up the eye. White bone glimmered on one cheek, and some tufts of black hair seemed to be pulled out, revealing bugs crawling around.

Vivienne's constant scream grew in pitch, as she wiped her hand at the trunk of a nearby tree, scratching her palms. Her breath came in shallow gasps, as if she couldn't breathe. She should've known. She should've _realized. _Vivienne took a step back and felt like she was going to faint. Her eyes had imprinted Kristina's dead face, and every time she closed them, she could see the leering face.

Vivienne collapsed in front of the dead body and kept on screaming again and again... as if there was no end to this horror… and as if there was nothing else she can do.

**Is it scary enough? ^^ I hope so. Reviews are appreciated~! I hope you do review. This thing was 21 pages! (In Microsoft word.) **


	15. Why Didn't You Kill Me?

**This chapter is before a pause that i THINK i will have... it's my first highschool year so i'll need time to get used to it all. :[**

**I'll try to update very very soon!**

**Warmth in the Darkness, Chapter 15: Why Didn't You Kill Me?**

Vivienne's P.O.V

Vivienne barely heard her friends' calls as they anxiously tried to find her in the wood. She only heard Kristina's echoing screams in her head and felt the guilt which made her feel wretched. Kristina. Her body. Vandalized cruelly. It made Vivienne think about what happened after Kristina dropped the phone – was she tortured? Did the killer use a knife on her while she was alive? How did she die? Choked to death, or bled to death?

Vivienne scarcely turned when her friends shook her. It was when they saw Kristina and screamed and cursed that she looked at them fearfully. The girls met each other's eyes and not knowing when; they were suddenly sobbing, hugging each other, holding each other, and trying to calm the fear in each other.

What should we do? Vivienne thought over and over as shivers ran along her body. What to do? What was right? She didn't even want to give the body a second glance. Just thinking about it gave her chills.

"Vi-Vivienne! The police. Go call the police!" Naomi, though being the calmest one there, was fidgeting and pacing around. Her face was full of fear and panic. "_Now!"_

Vivienne numbly reached in her pocket and pulled out her phone. Yes. They will help. The police will help Kristina, help them. Find the killer. Find him, and throw him in jail. No – kill him. And avenge Kristina. Then the guilt will be gone. She felt an inner flame grow inside her that almost anticipated for the time the killer is found. She was absolutely sure that he would be caught and would pay for doing that to Kristina.

With shaking and scratched up hands, Vivienne dialled 911 for the second time in two days.

* * *

Police cars swarmed all over the church. They were, Officer Cable explained, guards who prevented anyone from entering or leaving the grounds. Smart, Vivienne thought.

Vivienne and Naomi led him, Officer Daniels, and a few detective-looking people in suits to the place where they found Kristina's body. Supposedly, Penelope and Rachelle were keeping a guard to it, because they were all paranoid about the body being stolen, like in Pretty Little Liars.

When Penelope and Rachelle heard Vivienne and Naomi's little group, they quickly got up and huddled next to the other girls. Vivienne, intimidated by the officials, stepped behind Rachelle's tall figure to hide. But Officer Cable had different ideas. As the detectives unpacked their equipment from a silver case, he made sure things were okay with Officer Daniels before motioning them to lead the way.

Vivienne purposely put herself behind Naomi, so she didn't have to lead. Everyone stayed silent as they moved; they were still scarred from Kristina's body. Then they entered the guarded white church, and found a whole sea of black and white whispering to each other – the guests from the funeral were seated in chairs. Officer Cable ignored their curious stares and approached a couple leaning into each other for support. Darrion's parents. Vivienne felt badly for them – the funeral was supposed to be peaceful, but now Kristina's body caused, well, chaos.

"Excuse me, but you are Darrion Ammon's parents?" Officer Cable asked.

They nodded.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He shook hands with the two of them. "But do you have a complete guest list?"

"Yes." Mrs. Ammon reached into her black purse and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. "This was the sign-in sheet we had in front of the church. Every guest's name is listed here, and they all checked their names off."

Officer Cable nodded. "I see. May I use it for an investigation of murder?"

_Murder._ It was now a murder. Not a disappearance, not an accidental death, but a murder. Which meant someone _killed _Kristina _purposely._

"Absolutely." Vivienne felt that the couple looked older, like their son's death caused them to age.

Officer Cable nodded his thanks and led them to the front of the church where another police officer was pacing around. The two men had a quick, muted conversation before Officer Cable tilted his head to a small hallway at the side of the stage.

"This way." He led them into the dim place, where a couple of doors lined the walls, with a single one right at the end. There was a musty scent that fit quite perfectly with the image of Kristina's body, and Vivienne casually covered her nose.

She followed the policeman to the first pair of doors, ushering Penelope and Naomi in separate rooms. Both had the same things – a table and lamp, two chairs, one police officer, and one detective guy in a suit. Then they went to the next pair of doors. Officer Cable knocked on the left one, and opened it. Oddly, it was already occupied by no other than _Will_.

He looked handsome of course, and eerily beautiful. Instead of his usual black wear, he wore a white trench coat with black buttons a black dress shirt. It made his dark, cold eyes stand out more, and his hair blacker than the night. His pale face somehow also stood out from the black dress shirt. He was wearing a silver cross stud and black rings in one of his ears. All in all, he looked inhuman. Sort of like an avenging angel. And beautiful, of course. That was a must.

"Sorry," Officer Cable apologized before closing the door.

Strange to say, ever since he and Will made eye contact, the always stable Officer seemed almost shaken. Anyhow, he opened the other door, and showed Rachelle inside. Before she went inside though, she and Vivienne had enough time to exchange a look about Will.

Finally, Officer Cable opened the far door, and got in. There was one of those detective-looking guys in suits, this one in a grey suit. She sat down on the opposite chair to Officer Cable and waited for an introduction from the new guy. But none came.

"Sorry for the wait," Officer Cable said to the detective-looking guy in a grey suit.

The man inclined his head in response. Vivienne didn't get a very good feeling about him.

"Alright Vivienne." Officer Cable took out the voice recorder and placed it on the table. He then sat back and folded his hands in front of him, dark eyes kind. "You are the one who called the police, I assume?"

Vivienne nodded.

"You know what to do. Tell us what happened."

Vivienne took a breath, and then began her tale.

* * *

"Thank you for your facts." Officer Cable stood up and shook hands with Vivienne. "If you have any more problems, please, do _not_ hesitate to contact the police."

Vivienne nodded distractedly, still ruffled by Kristina's body. She and the Officer had both agreed during the interview that perhaps the killer _wanted_ her to find the body, so he purposely left it out for her.

"Please be careful. Kristina _did_ say that her murderer would look for you next. Now that you've found her body, he may go to you. Take care." He showed her out the door, seeming like an extra protector. She felt comforted. The police will take care of everything.

As she took her first few steps into the hallway, someone bumped into her. Hard. She nearly stumbled as she stood there, a little slow. When she looked to see who attacked her, she found Will's usual cold look glaring at her. Except she oddly found it even more deadly, more vicious, and barely controlled. Usually he seemed to have a type of limit to how much anger he showed, but right now, it was almost a full-blown fury. It was rather frightening, actually.

"Get out of the way," he snarled before turning down the hallway in long strides.

Weird.

Without thinking, Vivienne found herself hurrying after him. She didn't even know why – she just felt this sort of _tug_ that made her want to go… or was it a need?

Whatever.

As she neared the edge of the stage, she saw two girls get up to greet her worriedly.

"How did it go?" Rachelle asked.

"It was fine," Vivienne answered vaguely. She really want- _needed_ to follow Will, and she was sort of losing track of where he was.

"Oh." Penelope exchanged a glance with Rachelle when she saw Vivienne's searching look outside a window. "Are you… uh… looking for something?"

"Yeah, a person. I'll… I'll talk to you later." Vivienne then distractedly ran out the church doors.

Where did he go? She looked around for a tall Asian guy in a white trench coat. Was it really that hard? Then she spotted the skinny figure halfway down the grassy hill. He seemed to be walking rather hurriedly… wonder why? Her eyes lit up and she ran as quietly as she can so she was just a few meters away from him. She noticed that his liquid-smooth movements were barely controlled and sort of angry.

Hold on – why was she even noticing these things? She felt disgusted with herself. They were "enemies". All she needed to notice was that he treated her like vermin though she didn't do anything, and he was… on the good looking side. Yes. That's all she was allowed to think. None of the "elegant body" or "alluring eyes" crap.

Will got out the church's perimeter – the two of them were now on the sidewalk that surrounded the black fences and green grass inside. Where is he going? She tilted her head curiously and still followed him. Gradually, they reached a place where both sides of the streets had small shops – some were filled with customers, others completely empty. Did Will want to buy things to eat? Or shop around?

Vivienne started to feel like an idiot. Why was she even following him? So what if she felt a "tug"? Following someone without them knowing is called stalking. And if that person isn't your friend, then it would become creepy and weird. What was she supposed to say if he caught her anyway? The more she thought about it, the more she felt sickened by her actions. But her real question was _why._ Why is she following him? Why does she "need" to? But she can't even turn back now – she didn't know the way. Sure, she can call any one of her friends… but that would be embarrassing. They would ask questions, and what was she supposed to say? That she followed Will? Everyone would look at her as a crazed stalker, and _bam_, she would be viewed as Will's wannabe girlfriend. Even the thought of it made her shudder. No – she would continue to follow him until he went back to familiar streets. And if not, she would ask him the way back – even though he was an ass, he would keep his mouth shut.

Finally, Will turned to a dim empty store that was called "My Life Sucks." Vivienne snorted. It does. The dirty gray building had boarded up windows, but a grimy sign announced that it was "Open". Vivienne waited a few minutes after Will went inside, and then grasped the rusty door handle herself. The hinges squeaked alarmingly loud as she went inside the shop. When the door slammed shut, she flinched – she was encaged inside a stuffy darkness. Well there was one yellow light in a corner that illuminated a flight of wooden stairs that went straight up. But that was enough. She could see that "My Life Sucks" had rows of antiques… probably dusty ones at that. A tall desk was in the middle of the wall, most likely the check-out desk, but no one was there. She glanced around. Where was Will, anyway? There was no one in sight… maybe upstairs?

Vivienne curiously made her way to the long flight of wooden stairs, slightly suspicious of how the light was illuminated there. It made her seem like someone was expecting her, and purposely let the light show her the way.

Well, maybe the disappeared shopkeeper needed it to climb up and down in the darkness, a voice told her.

True.

She shrugged and then climbed quietly up. Where is he? She looked around at the top floor. It was basically the same as the bottom floor – musty, dark, and full of trinkets and stuff. Well except for the light that was in some far away corner. She looked around and spotted no human activity. Where was he supposed to be? Did he jump out of a window or something?

Suddenly, a small whimper came from the lighted corner. Vivienne froze, alert. Was that Will? She made her way around the shelves cautiously. She didn't want her clumsiness to kick in and make her cut her head or something. That would be bad. Then there was another whimper, and she picked up her pace. Why was it so far from here anyway?

At last, she was at a spot where the light didn't touch her and she could see what was up. She was sort of confused – her mind couldn't absorb anything. She stared for a while, and then made sense of what was happening. Underneath the light, she could see two guys – at first glance, it seemed like they were hugging each other. At a second glance, she could see that one of the guys was wearing black, and one seemingly all white. The older guy was facing her, but his head was lolled diagonally. His face was looking straight at the light, so Vivienne could see that his eyes were closed – but no life was shown. The teenager in the white had his back to her, but she'd know that back anywhere. His strong, pale artist's hands clutched the older guy's shoulders, to keep him from falling, she guessed. Another body was at the two's feet, looking as if it was just carelessly dropped there. Unconscious again. But what Vivienne was staring at was the teenager-in-white's _face_ and the older guy's _neck._ As she watched on in shock, the teenager's mouth seemed to have slipped a bit or something, so that a trail of cherry red liquid ran down the guy's neck.

Vivienne stumbled back with a small gasp. What… what was that? That was… that was… _blood._ His mouth-his neck- _Will- _what was _going on_– She found herself falling – _crap_, she probably tripped over a shelf_, _how_ typical_ – and then felt a cool hand grab hers. Before her eyes adjusted from the darkness to the shining bright light and back to the darkness again, she found herself looking at a fallen angel's face. Such dark, mysterious, burning eyes… like she could fall inside the black flames forever…

Then she remembered what she had just seen.

Vivienne yanked her hand free and then turned away, winding her way around the shelves. She had to get away. Away from him, away from the bodies, away from what her mind was telling her. There was still a chance – if she got outside, then she could just pretend that nothing had happened. Her life would return to whatever "normalcy" there was, and just _forget_…

When she was just about to run out the shelves to the beginning of the stairs, there he was again. Waiting like a sleek black panther cornering its meal. His eyes shone amusedly, yet feverishly, and he was wearing a crooked smile. Sure, he may have been beautiful, but it was a frightening kind of beautiful. Vivienne froze and then turned around, her breath coming in more quickly. She needed to get away. Fast.

But he was there again, smiling crookedly, eyes glinting like a predator. Vivienne stepped back quickly, but he stepped forward. It was almost like a dance – she stepped back, he went forward. Her eyes couldn't leave his face – it was almost as if she was transfixed – but she kept moving back. Just get to the stairs, her mind urged her. Just get to the stairs. She kept stepping back as he stepped forward, like a game of cat and mouse. Suddenly, her foot slipped – she had reached her destination. Her hand clutched the wooden hand rail to keep her balance. He was almost close enough to touch her. Vivienne glanced behind her, at the darkness below her, and then back at his face. Still amused and smiling, as always. With her mind made up, Vivienne suddenly let go of the hand rail and then let herself drop.

* * *

Will's P.O.V

His subconscious noted that a presence was behind him, but he needed to drain the vermin in his hands before he drained her. She'd followed him like he'd wanted. He remembered tugging the soulmate chord mentally, trying to get her to follow him. He wanted her blood from before, but that was enough waiting. What was it, seven months since he smelt her from the pool? He wanted her blood _now._

Will greedily washed out his anger and want with the unsatisfying blood, similar to how a human washes out their emotions with alcohol. He thought back to the church swarming with the human police. Adriel. That motherfucker. How _dare_ he mutate his refrigerator's dead body into… whatever that _thing_ is? And then purposely compel Vivienne to find it? It's all his property – the body, Vivienne. If Adriel needed the NCD to take notice of his little gang, why not use someone else's leftovers? Why not use another human?

_Because he wants you to have a bad life._

Will narrowed his eyes. His "brother". Sure they were blood-related. But it didn't mean they had to treat each other like true brothers. His ears picked up the sound of Vivienne stepping back in shock. He felt grimly delighted in her horror and fear. If she was opposed to him, it would be easier for him to push her away. Easier for the soulmate connection to break.

As he finished the very last drop of that pathetic human and threw him away, feeling cruelly delighted in hearing some bones crack, he also heard the clumsy girl stumble back and trip over a book shelf. Slightly amused, he quickly turned around and grabbed one of her flailing hands, pulling her upright. He knew that if she started bleeding, he wouldn't be able to contain himself in this state and drain her immediately. But he couldn't kill her off. At least not that quickly, he added hastily.

Their eyes met, and he searched hers, wondering how much fear she was feeling. After all, she was a strong girl, and she'd already faced the death of her two friends. Not to mention finding the body of the latter one, he thought, teeth clenched.

Suddenly, she whipped her hand from his and ran towards the stairs. His eyes flamed with feverish pleasure as the animal in him recognized a hunt. He ran faster than her, timing it just right so that he was waiting for her to come out of the rows of shelves, smiling fiercely. When she came out, skidding to a stop, eyes widening in fear, he caught a thread of her thought. She was, of course, going to turn back.

Will again ran ahead of her so he was in front of her before she took three steps. The hunt. Refreshing; exciting; feeding off of the prey's terror. Her frightened eyes never left his face as she stepped back automatically. So this was how she liked to play. Will took a step forward. She stepped back again. He moved forward. She probably didn't notice that she was basically cornering herself, he thought amusedly.

At last, she had nowhere to go, her foot partially dangling over the edge of the stairs. He took a final step forward, so he was almost touching her. His eyes shone with the triumph of a new catch. The blood was his now. Her terrified eyes looked below her, at the distance, and then back to his face. Will grinned maliciously. There was nowhere to go. But suddenly, she let go of the wooden handle, and let gravity take her to the floor.

What the _fuck?_

His stomach dropped, and without thinking, he grabbed her waist before she started to fall. He pulled her close to him to safety, ignoring the splinters wedged in his palm, and felt his heart thump unevenly for what had almost happened. Vivienne was momentarily stunned, and lay limp in his arms. But she suddenly jerked back with a gasp, and pushed past him to the dark shelves.

He himself stood there, picking the splinters idly out of his hand, as he absorbed his feelings and actions. Why didn't he let her drop to the floor and break her neck? Why not let her die? It was easier to access the blood anyway. He shook his head abruptly as he tracked the human girl with his mind. His palm was already healed, and the animal inside him was back. The beating heart was at the lighted place, he found. Did the light attract her like how it attracted mosquitoes? He almost laughed.

Will ran to the lighted corner, and watched her. She was squatting next to the two bodies he'd drained before, flipping them over so that the light shined on their motionless faces. Curious for her lack of fear, he smoothly slid from the shadows, and watched her stand up slowly, eyes unreadable. He cocked his head sideways. Where did this strength come from? He studied her mind and her actions. She seemed to have decided to be brave and stand her ground. His lips spread into a small appreciative smile. He liked her strength, but what good would _that_ do while facing a vampire?

She took a step back, like before. Will didn't want to play by her rules anymore. He took long strides to her, so she was pressed up against the wall. Yet her gaze did not waver. When he reached out to her, she flinched. Will smirked. He continued to slowly stretch his fingertips towards her throat, and watched as she flinched so much that she was looking at the side, eyes squeezed shut. His fingers finally touched her neck, and he felt the bloodlust kick in. His eyes widened, and he knew that they had turned gold. He could feel the heartbeat there, hear the delicious potion swishing in that vein; smell the intoxicating perfume of it. His hand was suddenly around her throat, and her hands went to try to pull his off.

"Let me go," she said hoarsely. He was squeezing her windpipe so she could barely breathe.

Will smirked and shook his head. He then let go of her throat, only to tilt her head back with a gentle but irresistible force, and grab her shoulders. He closed his eyes as he breathed in the scent, feeling his teeth lengthening to sharp points. Anticipation. It was almost as good as the final product. He quickly used his mind to bind her from interfering. Along the way, he found that she was having an inner discussion of death. He chuckled, too quietly for her to hear. Shouldn't the "damned" be the ones to die first? Why was _she_ thinking about dying before? He felt her surprise of her inability to move, and then her anger. Like a flowing river of lava fresh out of a volcano.

_What did you do?_ She snarled mentally at him.

Will was momentarily stunned with the "loudness" of the cry. He'd never met a human with so much Power. But he quickly pushed away his surprise. It was probably because they were tied together with the Soulmate Principle.

The pulse underneath his fingertips caught his attention again, and his pupils dilated in anticipation. The animal inside him took control again, and he closed his eyes, smelling the blood. The blood he craved for so long. His soulmate's blood – the blood that was said to be the most satisfying for him. He leaned down so that his face was just an inch away from her neck. Blood. He opened his lips and revealed the two sharp teeth that grazed her skin, teasing both of them. His tongue flicked quickly over the spot where he would bite, and unable to resist any longer, he sank his teeth into her neck.

The rich, red liquid poured down his throat, soothing the burn that was there since his birth. It was so addicting – the _flavour_ and the _texture_ – it was as if the elixir was just meant for him. Completely suited for his taste; he couldn't find any blood more satisfying than this. And aside from that – his greedy side rejoiced when he felt and saw the power in it. The life force was so bright it was almost blinding to him, but he welcomed it; if he didn't know any better, he would've assumed he was drinking from a witch, and from Aradia, no less. The brightness, the shine... he wanted it. All of it. To take all of it and become one of the most powerful vampires in the world. To control all the vermin and make rules bend to his will. The idea was so pleasing, so alluring, that he almost didn't feel a slight whisper of another mind trying to open his.

Almost.

Will slammed his wall down, but observed who it was from the other side. Of course. It was the human girl. Vivienne. His soulmate. He felt her mind probing his wall, trying to find a weak spot with gentle touches.

Slowly, gradually, with the intoxicating blood in his mouth, he found that he _wanted_ her to find his weak spot, his Achilles' heel. He wanted the girl to unravel his secrets, his thoughts... He wanted someone to actually _care_ about him... especially the person who would understand him without questions, the person who would bring him comfort, the person who he was destined to be with... his soulmate...

_She'll leave once she sees the monster in you,_ a voice sneered in him. _ She'll throw you away once she finds out her friends were you and your brother's refrigerators. She'll never care for you, just like Mom and Dad. _

Will immediately shielded himself, protecting his thoughts and such around Vivienne. He couldn't risk his heart; his mind, to face being abandoned once he let his guard down.

Not again.

All the same, he retracted his teeth and removed his mouth from her neck, licking the wound closed. As usual, he didn't spill a drop. He was too much of a neat freak to do that. He freed Vivienne's body from his mental hold and watched as the wounds closed by itself, leaving just a small red spot where it had been before.

Impassively, he stepped back and fixed his eyes on Vivienne. He watched as she closed her eyes and moved her head from side to side, as if she were waking up. She blinked slowly, those long-lashed lids opening and closing, and looked around her surroundings. Will continued to look on mutely, unsure of what her reaction after being bitten will be. It depended on the person.

Finally, her eyes went over to Will's face again, and gazed at him with an undisguised intrigue. "I'm dead right?" She sighed sadly.

"No," he answered shortly.

She took a step forward, wobbling unsteadily. In a flash, he was at her side, supporting her, feeling the tingles that made him feel confused. Her head rested on his chest lightly. He strangely liked it there.

"Let's go," he murmured as they went forward slowly.

Surprisingly, she let him guide her without question. No one said a thing until they were just behind the door to the streets.

He felt Vivienne pull away finally, leaving a cold spot where she once was.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

Will looked down at her. Vivienne's voice was curiously child-like, and her eyes were innocent and pure.

Do I deserve her? Will thought, slightly confused as to why she wasn't calling him a monster yet. Her haze was gone; he could tell from the way she was able to walk by herself.

He shook his head, not knowing himself. Shaking off that matter, he focused on the procedures after blood was taken.

"Don't tell anyone what just happened, alright?" Will asked, using mind control to bind her mind to his words. "The story is that you were hungry so you went out to look for something to your taste. But as you tried to go back, you got lost. Conveniently, you saw me, and I took you back home." He saw in her eyes that her brain was slowly shifting to his will. "Understand?"

Vivienne nodded, eyes still in his control. "Yes," she whispered.

"Good." He then thought of another matter. "Give me your cell phone."

She complied, handing him her white Blackberry Bold.

Quickly, fingers in a blur, he texted the contacts called "Alex", "Mom" and "Father"with the same message: _ Sorry, I forgot to tell you that I left the church early. I'm going home now._

* * *

When they were halfway to the church, Vivienne spoke.

"Where are we going?" She asked, still in the child-like voice.

"To the church," Will snapped, in a bad mood.

He was still thinking about Adriel, and what he was supposed to do. He knew that despite the mind control he put on the police officers, he was still a pretty big suspect. He shouldn't have lingered around Kristina's body after he confronted Adriel about demolishing the girl's body – he should've taken it somewhere else. And that was before he knew Adriel was planning on having Vivienne find the body. Anyways, some security people saw their fight, which was, _conveniently_, just beside Kristina's body, and they _happened_ to pick out Will only. He had a big feeling that Adriel had planted that thought in their heads. So when the police came, the security guards easily pointed them in his direction. He should've erased their memory, instead of lazily mixing up their thoughts. He'd underestimated their ability to put together the puzzle pieces. Hell, he should've killed them.

He glanced at Vivienne, seeing her eyes thoughtful, nothing like the terror or the blankness he was expecting. His thoughts then turned to the girl. He would like very much for her to be his refrigerator. Only... Will sighed. There was this tug from his heart, making him feel strangely guilty for wanting to drink her blood. But the taste was still fresh in his mind, and he didn't want to let go of it.

As he continued to think about it, the power and the taste soon won over the guilt he felt. His animalistic and cruel self took pleasure in the thought of the future, with the blood he would enjoy, and the power he would have to control.

It was settled then.

Vivienne would become his new refrigerator.

Will grinned maliciously, his eyes glinting gold in the sunlight.

**Dum Dum Dummmm.**

**Notice how Will didn't ERASE Vivienne's memory.**

**He just told her to keep it a secret. ;]  
**


End file.
